interactions with co-workers

OK, I'm up way too late, because I had too much caffeine and sugar too late.

Anyways, for the last few days I have been thinking about relationships you have with co-workers. In each of the jobs I've had, the interactions and relationships I've had with my co-workers has been different.

In the craft store I worked at, they were mostly ladies I thought were much older than my 18 years at the time. I was in my first year of college and was working evenings and weekends to pay for school and my car. I had a good time with all of them and was really said to see that job end. I may not have always felt like I had a lot in common with them, but there were always conversations and laughs to be had.

My second job (and my fourth) was working in fast food - not exactly a glamorous job, but one that many people seem to do at some point in their lives. My co-workers were for the most part in their early 20s as I was. None of us really loved being there. We were just working because we had to. There really wasn't much in common either - we didn't talk much - mostly just worked.

In between the two fast food jobs, I worked in the cafeteria at the college I attended. In many ways, not too different from fast food. When I returned to the same college for a second year, I was working in the Distance Learning office. Both of those jobs I had a lot in common, as I was at a Christian college and we all shared core beliefs. I actually really enjoyed both of those jobs.

After I graduated, I found a job as a bookkeeper for a repair shop. I had gone to school for accounting so I was working in the right field now. That job was probably my least favourite. I really had very little in common with the other five guys who worked there. And, I really didn't enjoy listening to their temper tantrums and throwing things and swearing when something didn't work. It really was just a filler job until I could find something better.

That brings me to my current job - the one that I love! I get to work in my field, but I also get to be a part of something that helps people to change their lives for the better. And, my co-workers . . . for the most part, they're amazing! We have a good time together - lots of laughing and talking (that's what happens when you have 8 women in an office together). And outside of the office staff, we have so many other staff that come through the office for various reasons and it's enjoyable to chat with them too. This is a job where we actually do things together as a staff outside of work and enjoy one another's company. Like tonight with our skating night. Or a few weeks ago when we went bowling.

There's something about co-worker relationships that can make or break your work life. When you think about it, you spend a lot of hours or your week with those you work with. Having a work environment where friendship with one another is encouraged and built is helpful. It makes the work day go by that much faster because you can actually enjoy it and the people you are with.

Really, I'm not completely sure what the point was to this blog. I've been thinking about this lately, but there's no big conclusions or challenges to draw from this. It just interested me that there were these differences in the interactions and co-worker relationships in my jobs, and you stopped to read my blog so you got my synopsis of my employment history.

doubt

Doubt . . . it's rather common in the lives of followers of Christ . . . and yet it's something we rarely feel free to talk about. It seems as though we like to think that we're the only ones struggling with it, when that couldn't be further from the truth. The truth about it is that if we opened up about it, we would find other followers of Christ who sturggle with doubts.

It does pay to be careful who you open to about your doubts because some people won't handle them well. They will be shocked or they will tell us they mean that we're not really followers of Christ. But, other people will encourage us in using them to push us deeper in our relationship with God.

Doubts can have two different effects on our lives - they can drive us away from God, or they can drive us to God. What our doubt does depends on how we respond to them. If we choose to think that no person who really has a relationship with God can doubt, then we will be driven  away from God and we will come to false conclusions about Who He is and what He can do. But, we can also choose to allow our doubt to drive us to our knees in prayers and to the Bible in search of answers. The second choice honours God in the midst of our doubt and will ultimately benefit us greatly in the long run.

On a website that I read regularly they had a two-part series on doubt this week that got me thinking about this. You can read Part 1 and Part 2.

So, how do you respond to doubt in your own journey with God? Do you allow it to drive you away from God? Or do you allow it to drive you to God?

family

I've been thinking a lot lately about family. At the beginning of February I was sitting at a table in a restaurant with my family . . . except it had a couple more people than I'm used to having at the table - a couple more guys specifically. Both of my sisters are engaged and so their fiances were with us. In some ways it seemed strange to have these two guys at the table, and in other ways not strange at all. My sisters have picked quality guys.

I have apparently gained two brothers at this point - something they both informed me of. And it shows in things like messing with the other remote for my parents' Wii while I'm trying to select something, so that I can't actually select what I'm trying to and am confused by what's happening that I'm not doing. Or seeing them eye the cupcake in my hand and try to time it correctly to shove it in my face instead of me being able to take a bite (they weren't successful on that one, but they tried).

The more I've thought about family the last while, the more I've realized how lucky I am to have the family I do. We may drive each other crazy at times or amke each other mad, but I never doubt they love me and I never doubt my love for them. And my family, my two future brother-in-laws included, are the people who I know will be there when I need help and they're the people I would call on first. I feel pretty lucky to have a family like that, and I don't want to take that for granted.