Sister Pat's Woodshop

During my Jr. High years I worked at Sister Pat's Woodshop with a few of the other guys from our church. This was an after-school program that this particular Catholic Church had for Jr. High-schoolers to keep them out of trouble. In the woodshop, we would make wooden objects that would eventually be sold - the proceeds going to the church. Our salary was based on our performance or should I say Sister Pat's evaluation of our performance.

Sister Pat = a no-nonsense, in-your-face, take no crap from nobody, serious, all business, fire you on the spot, rehire you on the same spot, tough as nails nun. This little nun was no joke! Truth is she had to be that way to deal with these inner city kids she was responsible for. In retrospect, she had a great heart - and I'm sure still does.

We had a great time there! Lots of laughing, joking and learning went on in that woodshop. There were many great memories and some not so great. But this one particular day taught me a great lesson:

As usual, we were joking around and laughing. This time it was "make fun of Sister Pat day". We made fun of everything we could think of - maybe too much! She gave us several warnings to lower our voices and control our laughter but we would continue. For a moment, she briefly walked out of the room and came back in only to catch us making fun if her. I was sure we would all hear, "Izzy, Franky, Billy, Sammy (names were changed to protect the innocent) YOU'RE FIRED!" as we had heard many times before. Instead she put her head down, walked toward her desk and between her weeping barely got the following words out: "and you're supposed to be Christians".

OUCH! It was as if someone took a samurai sword and shoved it through my heart in a lower-case T motion! I would rather be fired than hear that! We made Sister Pat cry!

Since I was the PK and the oldest of our group, I eventually gathered enough courage to approach her and apologized. Things seemed to be back to normal but I learned a hard lesson that day - we represent Christ wherever we go!

I've heard this phrase thrown around a lot, "you may be the only Jesus someone sees". When you really think about it, that's a pretty tough responsibility! There are so many people all around us depending on us: at work, school, neighborhood, grocery store and even our family gatherings. We MUST represent Jesus well if we are to reach those around us.

Now some might take this to the extreme and try to shove Jesus down people's throats but I would argue that it is the little things that we do on a daily basis that will demonstrate Jesus (or the lack of Him) in us to others. Here are just 5 little things we can do:

1. Treat your coworkers with love even though they may not deserve it.
2. Work as if God was your Boss.
3. Say hello to your neighbors every time you see them.
4. Choose your words wisely around your family.
5. Show God's joy in you by smiling!

These little things will open up God moments for conversations that will introduce Jesus to those around us.

As I'm reminded of this "Sister Pat" experience, I am committed to represent Him well one day at a time by asking the Holy Spirit to help me as I "gear-up" daily! I challenge you to do the same.

God's plan is to make known his secret to his people, this rich and glorious secret which he has for all peoples. And the secret is that Christ is in you, which means that you will share in the glory of God. (Colossians 1:27 GNT)

Don't Believe The Hype!

Till this day, I love hearing my mom tell this story: 

(En español of course) Once upon a time there was this little boy who was born with a heart murmur and spent a week in an incubator due to a respiratory illness during birth.  When he was six months old, this little boy was sick with a throat ache/infection. His mom gave him penicillin to cure the throat ache/infection not knowing the little boy was allergic to this drug. The little boy stopped breathing, eyes turned in his eyelids and his skin turned blue – not a good thing. In a panic, the little boy’s mom grab the boy and called (more like screamed) at her husband who was in the shower. With a towel around his waist, the husband comes out of the shower, snatches the boy from his wife’s hands and orders her and the rest of the kids to begin to pray. He carried his baby boy into his room and kneels down at his bedside praying to God to revive his little boy. With the mom and the rest of the kids crying and praying in the background, he prayed for what seemed to be an eternity. Eventually, this man of faith brings out his handsome baby boy back to the rest of the family. His color was back to normal and he was healthier than before this incident.

That little boy was me. And while this story should serve as an encouragement to me, for a long time I struggled with lies of the enemy insisting that I should have remain dead. Every failure, every time I felt weak, and every opportunity he could use, I would hear “you shouldn’t be alive right now” “God wanted you dead” “What was your dad thinking praying for you?” “That’s why you are going through so much stuff”. I even heard a few “you should end it now” thoughts!

One night while I was struggling with these lies, I got down on my knees and prayed to God. He gave me a “glimpse” of my father kneeling down on his bed praying for me. Then God reminded me:

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

You see I had heard that verse before but that night it made complete sense! I hope it does for you, too!

What lies is the enemy telling you? “You don’t fit in” “you don’t belong” “you should end your life”? Whatever it is…Don’t believe the hype! God has “greater” plans for you!