Tuesday thoughts.

Today was the last time I'll be able to attend the Tuesday morning Bible study at Trinity, and Beth shared a story that was fitting for a send-off.

A few years ago, Beth started getting to know a new resident in her neighborhood. She never gave her name, but her neighbor had recently been diagnosed with cancer. This young woman was a young wife and a young mother, and she was diagnosed when her baby was just a few months old. Over the couple of years that Beth was able to get to know her, the two women were able to grow together and learn from each other.

As the young mother and her husband prepared their son for his mommy's inevitable passing, they explained to the now 4-year-old boy that Mommy was going to live with God, that Mommy was unable to get well here on Earth but that being in Heaven with God would heal her and make her well again.

When the day came that Beth's neighbor passed away, the young husband came to Beth's door in the early hours of the morning to tell her. Beth went with him back home to pray and be with him as they waited for the paramedics to arrive. When the paramedics arrived, Beth noted that one was a woman with long, strawberry blonde hair.

The little boy in all his four-year-old wisdom rushed over to the red-headed paramedic and tugged on her uniform, "Hey, hey... are you God?"

At four years old, it seemed only reasonable that the person carrying his mother away must indeed be God.

The paramedic with a sincere heart for the Lord knelt down and got eye-level with the boy and said, "No, I'm not God... but I work for Him." And if there had ever been any doubt, in that moment that little boy knew for certain that his mommy was being ushered out of his home and straight into Heaven to be with God because God's workers were right there in his midst, gathering his mommy.

At the end of this story, eyes brimming over with tears, Beth said that in this moment, that strawberry blonde paramedic was a paramedic for God. She then asked a poignant question: are we doing our jobs for God?

Not just, are we telling people about God? are we going to Sunday school every week? are we doing our "jobs" for God?

But are we doing our jobs for God-- the daily, mundane tasks of life... the 9-5 workday, the afterwork chores, the roles of wife/mother/brother/stepfather/whatever... are we doing them for God? So that in a moment least expected-- like a tug on the pant leg by a small child-- we might be known as one of God's workers.

So I've thought about that a lot today... what would it look like to be a student for God? a daughter for God? a girlfriend for God? a friend for God? even a substitute teacher for God?

Just some thoughts on this Tuesday afternoon.