“Like apples of gold in settings of silver,
Is a word spoken at the proper time.”
Proverbs 25:11 (NASB)
As I was reminiscing about my
retirement, the joy and fulfillment I derived from all my years of working at the hospital, I remembered what actually drew me to the health care field in the first place.
I was an art major in college but after getting married, a few years later, I became a stay at home mom until my boys were six years old. While staying home, I worked at various summer festivals doing portraits, and contracted a few art jobs, doing illustrations for a company at home, but we still needed a more steady income, so I got a job as a bank teller at a small family owned Savings and Loan in the neighborhood.
The hours worked perfectly with school hours and I was home by 3:30 every day. It was a very family oriented bank, so they hired college students for the summer, allowing me to take every summer off to be with my children. During the nine years of working there, I listened to elderly customers tell me about their stroke or other health issues, and developed an increasing interest in the human brain. I used to read books about neurological disorders during my lunch breaks.
One college girl who I worked with asked me one day, “Why don’t you ever read normal books?”
She asked me why I continued to work in a bank, while being so interested in neurology. I never thought I had the opportunity to change direction and start a new career, but she told me about a Medical career institute in Chicago, where she enrolled in their Ultrasound program. That brief conversation totally changed the direction of my life.
I was 41 years old at the time, and my boys were 13. I checked out the school and enrolled in the program to study neurologic testing. I learned about all the medical tests and procedures for the brain and spine. We had the equipment in the room to perform hands on testing on each other, and I knew this was what I wanted to do. I finished the course, found a position in a large trauma hospital, worked there for 25 years, and retired three years ago.
While reminiscing about all this, I wondered what that college girl is doing today, 32 years later. Of course, she is no longer a college girl, but probably in her fifties. Since she inspired me and I still remembered her full name, I decided to search for her on Facebook, which is a good way to find and reconnect with past acquaintances.
Surprisingly, I found her and messaged her after all these years, not sure if she would even remember me. I was shocked when I received an answer from her, saying “Maria!!! How funny that I am seeing your message since I was just thinking of you and the days when we worked together.”
Wait, what? I was stunned that she was thinking about me on the same day that I messaged her. We were not even friends throughout the years. We were coworker acquaintances, who haven’t seen or spoken to each other in 32 years, and yet we were both thinking of each other at the same time? That is the Holy Spirit.
We exchanged phone numbers through Facebook messenger and she lives about 15 miles away from me, but we agreed to meet for coffee someday.
It’s funny how a person from the past pops into two people’s minds simultaneously. It’s a lesson to teach us to pay attention to “who”is passing through our thoughts, because the Holy Spirit brings people into our minds and He does it for a reason. He’s a networker, who connects people according to His plan, purpose and precise timing.
I was so glad to finally tell her through FB, how much her words and our brief time together was a positive influence in my life. People perceive their true sense of worth when it’s reflected back to them by another person. It took 32 years, but I was able to let her know that her words were of great worth to me, and still echo in my heart.
We are all here to lift each other up, and helpful words echo in our hearts forever. It pays to take note of who is passing through our thoughts at any moment, because it’s probably coming from God. Life is truly be an adventure, since the Holy Spirit is full of surprises.
Lord, thank you for the people you send into our lives, networking through us and our words, so that we find deeper meaning in our purpose here. Amen
