THE NEW GIRL

The year is halfway done or is it half way begone? (Half empty or half full?). God has been dealing with me in an awe- inspiring way and i have been counting my many blessings. There is just such a romance about how God helps us do what only HE can do for us. He must love us so.

Recently i was preparing to take a very tough exam and was told that 70% of the participants who sit for the exam fail it, to add to my apprehension i didn’t have enough time to thoroughly prepare for it. I would be so tired after work that studying at night was out of the question. I was really behind schedule. To make it worse, i didn’t get the time off i’d hoped for from my boss which just made it frustrating. One day, while i was complaining to a friend, she encouraged me to put in all the hours required of me at work and not complain that i wasn’t given the time off to study, she said God would see my faithfulness and bless the spare time i had to read. That was powerful for me because i was getting tempted to steal time off to do “my own thing” afterall “ “they” don’t care about me so why should i sacrifice my success for them” ; i selfishly thought. Her words were my salvation to stay on the high road. Another significant instance was when one day, while i was lamenting about the lack of time to study, some other friend said something that struck me, he said : “God sees your heart , just do your part and He will do his”. Wow! What did my heart have to do with acing my exam? Didn’t you just pass or fail depending on how well you studied or what you deserved? But it made perfect sense. I believe even when it has nothing to do with it, God cares about how we feel, and how badly we want something.

I took the exam and passed.

Yay!

It wasn’t because i read enough, it wasn’t because i had all the time in the world, it wasn’t because i was confident enough, it was because God blessed my little and made it enough. Praise God somebodey!!!

I maintain a grateful heart towards God for all the ways he has showed up for me this past six months. He has made it obvious that he is involved, engaged, interested in the details of my life. That just makes me feel blessed and hopeful. He’s interested in you too!

One other time, i wanted something (don’t ask what? Lol!) and i made out a list describing specifically what i wanted. It was amazing not just that i got it but also how things unfolded for me to have what i prayed for. So yeah, God is good.While i’m still cushioned in the bubble of gratitude, various testimonies passing through my mind, let me settle down to the real object of this post:

Heart atitude – the new girl!

Towards the end of last year i met a lovely young lady. She was introduced at work; she was the new girl! I didn’t have a problem with helping the new girl settle down, and get integrated into the office life afterall only a few months before i was a new comer myself.

(Besides i’m a nice person, a christian for that matter, it’s true!) Lol! (we’ll soon see).

Have you ever noticed the effect a new person has on a click of old friends? Old beefs are ressurected, levels of friendships may be restructured, the click within the click might be reformed, new sides to old friends revealed ...Well soon enough the hornet’s nest was stirred and the buzz was the new girl is this, the new girl is that... On a few occassions i was dragged into the conversation to give my opinion about her. I was tempted to add my own two cents worth of “pre- judgement”. I too wanted to take a good look at the competition and sniff for faults to tip the scale in her disfavour, maybe it would balance out my own areas of disadvantage and we’d all be even eh?

Love said not so!

I succeeded in keeping my observations to myself but the real temptation was not letting assumptions influence my acceptance of her or my behaivour towards her. I was honest to myself about what everyone was complaining about but i resolved not to see those things as weaknesses but to look out for her strengths and appreciate them. After a while things settled down, the new girl got used to the job, formed allies, won a few hearts , developed her own share of enemies... life went on and we soon forgot she was ever new. She became as old as our friendships, as comfortable as our furniture and if her flaws ever came up, they were waived off with a casual “ is it not so and so, that’s just the way she is ”or occassionally an honest “ nobody is perfect” gesture and it usually ended there.

The months wore on and the two of us developed an understanding friendship, special in its own way. One day in a vulnerable moment, we were talking about traits we appreciated in each other and she told me that there was a time in the office when another colleague was complaining about me.

What? Me? I try to be a good gurl!

YEAH RIGHT!

What did i do? Oh no!

Back to the story (Lol!)... apparently this colleague mistook my self -confidence for arrogance, and my friend who used to be the new girl admitted she was tempted at first to see arrogance in my actions but she realised that she really wasn’t holding that quality against me. She recognised that i was just being myself. As i sat there listening, i realised that the same way i had refused to see her negatively without ever telling her about my decision was the same way she had resolved not to judge me either. That was an eye opener. Reminds you of the golden rule to do unto others as you want them to do unto you or more precisely ; judge not and you shall not be judged. What goes around does come around, doesn’t it?

Ok, i have spilled a bit on this post. Hope you learnt something guys! Me? i'm counting my blessings...LOL