Yours

Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth
Would care to know my name, would care to feel my hurt?
Who am I, that the Bright and Morning Star
Would choose to light the way for my ever wandering heart?

I had no idea this would happen. I had all but given up on finding a policy job that involved writing, really. I’d gone to law, to marketing, to the administration – where I could still have a cush job getting paid a nice amount – to things were there would be at least the aura of making a difference. That’s been the thing all along: I couldn’t take a job that I didn’t feel wasn’t unique to me in some respect, that I couldn’t do better at than most people. I wanted something like the campaign again, versus the inaugural committee, where I felt like Webster’s definition of worthless.
But then I started to realize: this is life. Right here, right now, sitting somewhere in a job you’re not getting paid to do, because you like that. That’s life for me. Life for a lot of people is doing something not very glamorous, but because they LIKE the work, or they enjoy people, they love it. I don’t want to be in food service all my life, but I have to admit, once I got into it, I loved working in the kitchen. I loved being the breakfast lady. Maybe it’s selfish, but I love it that when I visit campus, I have people coming up to me still and saying, “I miss you remembering my bagel every morning!” or “I miss your smiling face when I was still waking up.” How can you quantify or qualify that? It’s priceless. I made $7 an hour, but in some small way, I feel like I made a difference. Only now do I really see it.
I digress. The point is this: I wanted to do something special, but I came to realize every position is special: it’s all about what you make of it, how you take the time to invest in others.
And then, out of the blue, I get a call yesterday morning from the Chief of Staff in Norwood’s office. Was I busy? Could I come up and talk to him? Of course.
So I went up to the Congressman’s office. After a moment, the Chief of Staff came out and showed me to his office. I thought it was a post-writing test interview. I was wrong. He gave me the biggest professional compliment I have ever received.
“I read ten writing samples this morning,” he said. “You were so head and shoulders above the rest, I only wanted to talk to you .” He later said my writing skills were obvious. Now, maybe it’s prideful to even write all that, but after six long weeks of job searching and self doubt, it made my spirit soar.
And he offered me the job, for better salary than I expected. He said he would pay me to come in to do nothing but write all day long. This Chief of Staff is really good – he said exactly what was expected of me – and I was fine with it. Ninety nine percent writing and one percent filing.
I prayed, I thought, I talked to people. By midday I had a peace that had not moved. This morning, I called to accept the position.
And I want to be the best darn LC they’ve ever had.
I’m finishing with the Subcommittee tomorrow and will be starting in Norwood’s office on Friday. (Yeah, Friday – I know – but the sooner I start, the sooner the paycheck, right?)
God is so good.

Not because of who I am, but because of what You've done,
Not because of what I've done, but because of who You are;

In other news, a couple new features to mention, here: on my sidebar you will now see some new links, to a cheesy online calendar I’ve put together, CHBC, the San Diego Union-Tribune and other worthy things forthcoming. I am just excited that Sarah is teaching me HTML!
LOL… Heather just called, and I have to say, she will forever crack me up. And I love her ever-changing threshold of what is and is not “too much information!”
Also, kudos to Mr. Chris (I sound like Sarah!!) for his new internship here on the Hill!
Okay, back to transcripts…
But not before thanking the people who have been praying, who are too humble and too numerous to be mentioned… but you know who you are. I couldn’t have done it without God’s love through you. So whether it was a word of encouragement on IM or staying up with me till 6 a.m. to pray… thank you.

I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
A vapor in the wind;
Still You hear me when I'm calling
Lord, You catch me when I'm falling
And You've told me who I am:
I am Yours.