Hi. My Name is Jen. I Have a Husband, No Kids And I Work in an Office Factory.

Some days I greet the mundane with a grimace. Have you ever played that game? "Hi. My Name is Joe. I have a wife, three kids and I work in a button factory." It is a song that goes on and on as Joe is asked to push invisible buttons for no apparent reason at all. As the person singing the song, I am Joe. I am pushing imaginary buttons for no reason. First my right arm is extended and then my left. Meanwhile my right leg begins marching and then my left. Eventually all of my limbs are pushing imaginary buttons for no apparent reason. No one ever passes Go or collects $200.00. There is no candy bursting out of a paper mache donkey at the end-- no prize to be won. The song just goes on and on until I, Joe, fall onto the floor in utter exhaustion.

As a child, the game seemed comical and even entertaining to play as my friends and I sang songs while pushing imaginary buttons with no real purpose in life. Now I am older. Many days I still feel like I am pushing buttons for no apparent reason-- running my sanity into the ground inch by inch. Pam's job  on The Office (Season 5, Episode 19: which I do not own any right to) is my life Monday through Friday, although the names and places have been changed to protect the innocent. With every extension of my arm to answer another phone or type another figure, my dreams of changing the world die a little bit. Oh, I had plans-- plans to annihilate injustice and oppression, plans to rescue sex trafficking victims, plans to be the hands and feet of Christ in a dying world. I guess the point is that I always thought these plans would look different in actuality than they have played out thus far.

"If You Aren't Fired with Enthusiasm, You'll Be Fired with Enthusiasm."

As a college student, I imagined I would join International Justice Mission or work with a company like Compassion International to work hands on with the oppressed and impoverished. While I still hope to have the opportunity to work for one of these wonderful organizations, today I am a secretary at a commercial retail and service company. Today I know that changing the world means doing the work Christ has given me to do right here, right now. This week, changing the world meant that I was to share the love of a Christ in my tone and attitude with an irate customer-- quelling his anger through gentleness and respect. I pray he will come in and see the Scripture on my cubicle and ask me what it John 3:16 means and if I really believe it. Today, changing the world for Christ meant holding my tongue when gossip wanted to eek out and encouraging a friend to grow closer to the Lord by being bolder in her faith.

Maybe tomorrow changing the world will mean answering yet another phone call, typing up time card labels for the year 2021, or fixing the temperamental printer that's on the fritz again. Whatever tomorrow brings, I pray that I will bear my title Christian gracefully. I hope that, while the days dwindle down during this stage in our lives, my mind will be set on Christ and my eyes fixed on the prize of knowing Him and making Him known. The abundant life is not only experienced by going to exotic places and performing amazing acts of rescue for the world's most desperate victims. The abundant life in Christ is experienced when you and I are fully obedient to Him-- committed to His purposes and to knowing Him more deeply. 

Lord, open my eyes to see the opportunities you give me to share Your truth. Make me a blessing through the seemingly mundane of my days. May my dish washing, bathroom cleaning, phone answering, and data binding honor You, O Lord, My Rock and My Redeemer.