A Different Story

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)

I looked around my cluttered workstation yesterday and realized that my cubicle is jam packed full of reminders. Reminders of things great and small, personal and work related, sacred and otherwise. Take a look at what I found: 

1. C.S. Lewis reminds me that admitting a mistake is going forward, not going backwards.
2. My Google Reader reminds me that I have some good reading yet to do.
3. The verse of the day reminds me of God’s truth.
4. A daily Calvin and Hobbes cartoon reminds me that playing and imagining is very, very important. And that a good laugh never really hurt anybody, unless they have a fractured rib.
5. The verse across the top of my left monitor reminds me that “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) If I forget that one day, I am nothing.
6. The To-Do list on my iGoogle homepage reminds me of things I haven’t done yet.
7. The yellow Post-It reminds me of information I need to ask from people because Medicare requirements are pretty wacky.
8. A note buried under some other notes reminds me to “ruthlessly eliminate hurry.” Funny how it got buried, probably in a rush one day.
9. The verse across my right monitor reminds me that “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” (Romans 12:18) With all the conflict in my daily work, this is so important for me to see all the time.
10. My calendar reminds me of when there are holidays.
11. This prayer from Ephesians 1 reminds me specific things to pray during the day for a friend: that Jesus might help her know Him better and know the hope to which she has been called, the riches of His glorious inheritance and His incomparably great power. How can you go wrong praying that for someone?
12. My Outlook calendar reminds me every hour to go check for new claims. You’d think a claim handler would know to do that. You’d be surprised what I don’t know.
13. This quote from Heaven’s Wager reminds me of how much I like to read Ted Dekker. Like I have to be reminded of this.
14. This little bottle reminds me that the world is a germy place. And sanitized hands are happy hands.
15. A Reese’s peanut butter cup reminds me that I don’t need one. As long as I can have one, what fun is it?
16. This John Ortberg quote reminds me that “Life counts” so I remember act like it does.
17. A daily quote from Albert Einstein reminds me that even guys with crazy hair can say some brilliant things. 
18. A quote from John Lynch’s True Faced reminds me that “agreeing I’ve done something wrong is not the same as trusting God with what I’ve done.”
19. The program from my friend’s funeral reminds me of all the things she used to tell me about the meaning of my work. Things that God wants me to believe. And it reminds me of how much I miss her on the other side of my cubicle wall. Next to that, where I forgot to draw an arrow, is a picture of a cane. It reminds me to pray for a friend with a serious and sometimes debilitating illness. 
20. This list pinned on my wall reminds me of the statute of limitations for various types of claims in the states I handle claims. You’d think I’d know these by now.
21. Another yellow Post-It just has a simple little word: Raca. It reminds me to bite my tongue when I’d rather say something unkind. (Read more about that here.)
22. These pink notes from a Mother’s Day gone by remind me that my kids like me sometimes.
23. A note from Argentine friends reminds me to seek after what God wants.
24. A photo reminds me to pray for my missionary friends in North Africa.
25. Eye drops and pain relievers remind me that sometimes my eyes get really dry and my head hurts.
26. These pictures remind me of how much I love my family and miss them during the day.
27. A Bible on my desk reminds me God’s Word is foundational. For everything.
28. A bunch of fancy certificates reminds me that I’ve read a lot of books. And taken a lot of exams. And probably am a bona fide insurance geek.
29. A little card reminds me of my company’s goals.
30. My kids’ basketball schedules remind me of how busy they are but also how blessed they are to have their health and abilities.
31. The red and white target JP made for me reminds me of where I should place my head when I need to bang it on the wall. 
32. Books full of policy forms remind me of the terms of our contracts. 
33. A thermometer reminds me that it’s not really as cold as it feels in my cubicle.

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A person could get lost in all those reminders. And some of them don’t work that well. Sometimes they get lost too. Take Raca for example. That little note doesn’t do the best job of keeping me from saying obnoxious things when I finish a frustrating phone call.

But others are very effective. When I see them, I take note. I can’t look at my kids’ pictures without smiling. 

I can’t see the cane without praying. 

And I can’t look at Debbie’s picture without missing her.

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Being reminded is getting to be a big deal for me. I am looking purposefully for ways to be reminded throughout the day, throughout my comings and goings, of who God is and why I’m here. Just like God told the Israelites in Deuteronomy, I have to be intentionally reminded or I will lose track of these things.

Even though there is nothing more important.

It’s still, sadly, easy to forget. It’s easy to get lost. 

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A couple of weeks ago, I started to give myself a different kind of reminder. One I couldn’t overlook. One that doesn’t get lost in the clutter of a thousand papers pinned up on the wall.

It’s almost like a wake up call.

Every morning at 9:00, my phone buzzes, just like a phone call or email or text coming in. I rarely ignore my phone. 

This message is there just to remind me of who God is and why I’m here. 

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”

At other times during the day, a different verse pops up to help ground me.

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Last Friday started badly and got progressively worse. Without boring you with a lot of details, let me assure you that neither my office nor my cubicle were good places to be. By mid-morning, I’m sure my blood pressure was as high as it ever is for me. I was in new claims up to my knees, with the phone ringing continually, I couldn’t see beyond piles of mail that seemed higher than me, and I’d just learned that the cafeteria had forgotten to make “Friday Bars,” a gooey mess I count on every Friday for breakfast. 

And then it was 9:00.

My phone buzzed. I growled. I didn’t want to read any emails. I had no time to be dealing with outside issues.

I reluctantly took the phone anyway and lit it up. There it was.

God sent me a reminder. My morning reminder. 

So I took a deep breath. And I relaxed.

I talked to Him a while.

I remembered who He is.

And I remembered why I’m here.

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