There are days...

There are days when I'm sitting in my car in 97 degree heat, parked up against a tiny tree, trying to squeeze the last bit of shade from it, taking a few minutes out of my LONG 10 hour day to eat my lunch, yet another turkey sandwich on wheat. With no working AC in good ol' Gladice (my trusty teal Ford Escort), I roll down the windows but find no relief from the blazing hot elements. I've just been shut down by my 10th person in a row in a somewhat unkind manner before I even had the chance to say "Living Scriptures." I also drove past a dead skunk on the road and the smell is still lingering in my car. I haven't made a sale all day, and I ask myself why I decided to take this job in the first place...

and then....

There are days like today!! On days like today I remember why I love this job so much. And just so you know, it's not just because of the money. Granted, there are days I make a significant amount, but today I only sold a half a set (meaning in 10 hours I made a whoppin $25. That's worse pay than I got workin at the snoshack when I was 13). But no no no, the reason I love this job is because I come in contact with awesome people every day. You know, those unsung hero types. Every-day people who don't get a lot of recognition for what they do or have done. And people that recognize the hand of the Lord in the details of their lives every day.

Like the woman with a four-year-old adopted son with autism who has sacrificed an incredible amount in order to help her son and other kids in the community and their families. She says that if anybody ever talks about kids with autism as being a burden, she gets angry because through her son, she has been able to see the hand of the Lord and she insists that "he is the best thing that's ever happened to this family."

Or the single mom who is a convert to the church. After being in a really dark place for a long time, she had to overcome huge obstacles from her past and leave huge pieces of herself behind in order to turn her life around five years ago, but she did it. And she's never looked back.

Or the young dad with arms and legs covered in tattoos living in a trailer park who is ready and willing to give up anything for his two kids, and has been called to do it before.

Or the parents of seven girls living in a small home who use every opportunity possible to teach their kids what it means to follow Christ.

And the list goes on and on. Every day I get to meet these people. They let me into their homes and I get to catch a glimpse of their lives and what a difference they have made to those around them. I am constantly amazed at what I see and hear. And what I admire most about them lies so much more in the things they don't say than in the things that they do. I get to see the people that they are and their interactions with their families and how much goodness they emanate from themselves. I learn so much about the person that I want to be from them.

It's days like today that I remember why I love my job.