Never in my wildest dreams would I have expected that my urine sample could be used as an example to a young man who was not known to me, but let me tell you exactly how that happened.
When I was applying for a new job, sometime in the aughts, I had to go through drug testing to be sure I was suitable for the position at this new company. It was a sunny day, as I drove into the parking lot of the testing lab.
I exited my car and looked for the proper door to enter, since I was unfamiliar with the building.
In my search, I saw a young man, in his late teens or early twenties, and entered the lab testing building right behind him. Both of us seemed to know the drill and after the technician checked our names and orders for which drugs to test, she gave us the proper specimen cups and sent us to the respective toilet areas. The ladies room for me and the young man to the men's room for the same purpose.
As I came out of the bathroom, the technician was talking with the young man and she did not seem pleased. During her excited lecture, she hurriedly reached my way, indicating that she wanted my specimen cup.
As she took it in her hand, she held it closer to him and immediately said, "See, it is supposed to be warm, like this".
The look on my face must have been priceless, and similar to the young man's, I must admit. She finished checking me out of the building, as the man waited for her next direction.
I was sort of in shock. Never would I have guessed that my urine would be an example of anything public. Wow!
There is the reason that people say, "You can't make these things up". And, I really enjoy writing about true life events. Some make people laugh. Some make people cry, but truth is better than fiction and God does have a sense of humor.
Take for instance the time when our church choir was getting ready to sing at the community church service on the fifth Sunday of the month. Something happened with the technology that morning.
The choir was standing in front of the church and we were all ready to belt out the amazing choral number that the nine of us had prepared. However, this was a different church than usual and the music would not queue up on the sound system because of some glitch.
While the director and a member of the choir went to help the situation and get the music playing, there was an awkward silence as the choir looked at the congregation and the congregation looked at the choir.
The pastor broke the silence and asked if anyone knew any good jokes. Not being shy to speak out, this was a great time for me to fill in the awkward silence with a story about my granddaughter who is wonderful, vivacious, smart and beautiful. She is also two-years old and the absolute sunshine in my life.
So, I brazenly spoke up and said, "Have you heard about my little granddaughter? She is two years old and since I am the part-time secretary for Grace United Methodist Church, she comes to the church with me on occasion when I'm folding bulletins or whatever.
At this Easter season, there is a life-sized cross that stands prominently in the church sanctuary and her Pappy took her to see it the other day.
We have a rather large sanctuary with huge stained glass windows and this tiny toddler walked about fifty feet down the center isle, almost in slow motion, with her eyes fixed on the lifelike cross in the center of the altar area.
She is only about two and a half feet tall. So, this large cross made a very big impression, as she looked, for the first time in her life, at the greatest of Christian Symbols. The look in her equally large eyes was wonderful for a grandmother to see. The awe and majesty were prominent.
When we went back in to my office, I took a couple small wooden crosses down from the bookshelf and let her play with them for a bit. The porcelain ones stayed on the shelf, as she had already tried to clap while holding two pieces of my porcelain nativity, at Christmas. The camel did not fair very well in that incident.
At two years old, she is more verbal then most, so as we went home she repeated the word cross a few times and I talked about this being the symbol of Jesus's love for her and me. As we passed by a couple churches, she said, "Cross" at each.
I thought this was a good lesson that would have to be repeated through the next few years in order for it to firmly stick in her mind. I wanted her to remember, even after I'm not here to tell her, that the cross is a great symbol of love. But she was proving to me that it was starting to stick, already.
This was the beginning of her understanding that we should all "go to the cross" at some point in our lives. She may not understand why, just yet, but that will come the more times she actually does "go to the cross".
After that day, whenever she sees a church, while we are riding in the car, she will say, "Cross". Remember that she is only two and has a limited vocabulary, when she wants to go with me to my work place, she says, "Go to Cross"?
So, I will take her "to the Cross" at every opportunity I have left, just so that she can learn about the LOVE that poured out from that Cross for HER and for me on that Good Friday."
This is the example that I told the congregation that day. They seemed to enjoy the story and as I finished this life example, the sound was also fixed and the choir was able to sing the song we had prepared.
A couple weeks later, on Easter Sunday, no one remembered what song the choir sang that day, or that there had been an issue with the sound system, but at least two people commented and remembered the story about my granddaughter. They asked, "Is this the "Cross" Granddaughter"?
I have to admit that I like telling this story of my granddaughter as being a good example, rather than the story of the first good example I remember.
This leads me to ask you, what is the story (or two) of your best examples in life? You're welcome to comment here.
Butterfly Blessings,
Cathy
