Journey To Something More

I was in college and I was a young mother, alone and on my own. My mom had passed away the year before. She was so proud of me being in school and working so hard to give my son more than what she could have financially ever given me. I struggled daily after she died but I never gave up and I know I was at a point in my life where I was trying to decide what my actual career choice was going to be. I had wished many times that my mom was there to be my sounding board but that was not the way God had planned it. I had learned early on that I had to roll with whatever God laid in front of me. There was always a purpose to his reasoning and I didn't have to understand any of his decisions. I just had to trust in him.

On this particular day everything seemed to be going wrong. Much to my frustrations and already complicated life, I found myself at the local laundry mat due to my washer had broken down. I had tons of studying to do and no time for all the confusion.

As I unloaded my laundry I noticed that there was only one other person there. She was a well dressed lady that appeared to be very nice. She came over and began speaking to me almost immediately after my arrival. We talked for what seemed to be hours. I discovered that she was from a neighboring town and her washer had broken so she had no choice but to find a laundry mat for this day. She was in her early sixties and she had spent her entire life as a Social Worker. She told me stories of her Journeys in and out of other peoples lives. Some of the people she met blessed her with adventures of a lifetime while others left her sad and empty. She explained to me all about how so many people left a footprint on her heart. That all of her encounters made her into the person that she was. She took a little piece of all of them and wrapped them together. Being a Social worker was both a blessing and a trial. That it was sometimes hard to stay true to what you believe and who you are unless you hold tightly to what God has already given you. Stay focused and help who you can and just remember that we are only human. We can not, and are not expected to save the world just because we answer a calling to be a social worker. Some of us are just born to do so. Just like we are born to be School Teachers or Librarians. Its something that fills us and makes us complete.

It was this conversation and day in time that decided my future. I knew from that day forth that I had to finish college and become the Social Worker that I had wanted to be. I was a very young and impressionable twenty-two year old. I enjoyed my conversation immensely with my new found friend. During our time together we talked so intensely and with so much driven power and purpose that I never noticed that she was by my side the whole conversation. It wasnt until after our conversation was over and I was home that I realized that I had never seen her with any laundry. As my heart lifted and a smile crossed my face I found myself remembering that among all my troubles earlier that morning I had asked God for some guidance....So... as tears rolled down my cheeks I had to ask myself, “ Was my new found friend really a Social Worker or was she something more? “