ask

A co-worker (Barbara) attended a church leader meeting last night. Her job at my school is to assist students in finding employment after they graduate. So, last night her pastor suddenly said to the group of church leaders, "Let's talk about work. What do you need at work?" Barbara looked around at the other parishioners. Everyone looked as confused as she felt. Her pastor persisted, "Listen to your spirit and speak from your heart. What do you need at work?" After another moment of confused silence, a man spoke up from the row behind Barbara and said, "I need pharmacy technicians!"

Barbara turned and looked at the man in amazement. Our school has a pharmacy technician program and we really, really need as many job sites as we can identify so our graduates can go to work. The pastor knew this and pointed to Barbara and said, "Talk to this lady right here." Other people began to speak up and for every need, someone spoke up with an answer or solution.

Barbara spoke with the man who said he needed pharmacy technicians. Barbara actually works with the Medical Assistant program, but she figured she could bring the information back to the person who works with our Pharmacy Technician program. It turns out that the man is a pharmacist and works at a pharmacy that is extremely busy right now. Not only does he want to hire some technicians, but he is also interested in hosting some of our externs. (Our students complete an externship before they graduate.)

The man suddenly looked at Barbara and said, "You didn't say what you need at work. What do you need at work?" Barbara thought about it and answered, "I need to find job openings for my Medical Assistant graduates." The man replied, "I talk to doctor's offices all day long. I know I can help you find some openings. In fact, I will share my list of doctors with you so you can call them all."

How do I happen to know this story? Because Barbara was so moved by this experience that she decided to follow the next impulse that entered her heart this morning, which was to send me an email telling me that she was praying for me and that I had her support and that she could see that I had a lot of weight on my shoulders right now, but that she believed in me. I received that email only a few moments before I had to get on a conference call with the company CEO, the company CFO and my divisional president to explain our performance so far this fiscal year. This call happens once each month and it is stressful! Barbara's email arrived at just the moment that I needed to have some peace in my heart. The call went beautifully and I hung up the phone feeling confident and capable.

I pass this on to you in hopes that it will inspire you to ASK for what you need and that you will pass on some love to whoever your spirit calls you to reach out to. Amen!