I've been a Temp many times in my working career. During college, I did temp work in the summer and it was a great way to earn a pretty good salary compared to some of my friends who made minimum wage. I worked in a variety of businesses doing reception and clerical stuff. I actually worked in an eye clinic even though the medical field is not my area of complete comfort. There were jars of eyeballs in the staff fridge. I'm not even kidding. I was the person who would call you if you were waiting for a cornea transplant and someone died who had designated 'organ donor' on their medical card. It was sort of a 'mixed blessing' duty, if you know what I mean. Then I temped again several years ago when I was in-between jobs. I'm very thankful for temp agencies.
Being a Temp is, however, a bit of a humbling position. And I've decided that I must need some humbling because I've been amazed at how hard it's been for me just lately. I'll say right here, without any desire to sound stuck up, that I have a master's degree in education. And while I don't currently want to teach, I worked awfully hard for that diploma. So when I walk into a new job assignment as a Temp and feel everybody glance up at me from their desks with a look that says, 'Oh, the Temp,' I want to mutter as I walk past their desk, 'I could be doing something really important and high-paying and permanent.' Isn't that so immature and petty and awful of me? It is.
At one job this year I was given the task of cleaning out the refrigerator in the break room. Now believe me, I've cleaned out refrigerators many a time and it's not beneath me. (And there weren't even any eyeballs in this one.) But I found myself having quite a pity party as I pulled out old lunch bags with moldy sandwiches and take-out boxes of rotting leftovers. I'm glad no one was in the room at the time - let's just say I wasn't at the top of my game as I knelt on the floor before that fridge.
Temping is producing some good fruit in me, though. Because guess what, Becky? There are thousands of people every day who do things like scrub stuff out and clean up after others. And millions who are dying to have a job at all. I've begun to look at the store clerk or the gas station attendant through a different lens. I've been trying to smile more, say 'thanks so much' and even ask about their day a whole lot more than I used to. And I've thought a bit more about what it is that makes me and others feel valued and important. It shouldn't be about what we DO but about who we ARE.
He has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.
Eph. 1:14
Tomorrow when I head to the office, I'm going to try to remember God's camera is rolling. And that's the only one I need to worry about.
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