CORE-RELATE!
I am a call center agent or - if I want it to sound a little bit impressive - a customer service professional. Though there are positions in the "back office" where one can take care of paper works or email, my job description requires my voice as my foremost tool. I've been hired to take calls for at least 40 hours each week.
Unfortunately, I "lost" my voice over the last 3 weeks. What I thought was only ear ache turned out to be laryngitis. At one point the ENT even told me that what I had was rhinopharyngolaryngitis. I was told that the pain in my left ear was just an effect of the swollen pharynx and larynx. I had some mucus stuck behind my ear drum because of post-nasal drip - instead of the colds coming out of my nostrils, they've been going to the back of my nose and got stuck somewhere in between my nose and throat. Well, that's how I understood the ENT's explanation.
I was advised to take a voice rest. I was given medications to decongest my nose, to relieve the swelling of my vocal cords and 'cure' the infection. The idea is for me to cough out the mucus or blow them out of my nose and heal my throat so I can take calls again. My husband confessed that he sometimes enjoys it when I have to either mimic what I want to say or write it down. I am also prohibited from eating sweet and spicy food, ice cream and drinking cold beverages.
So I don't have a voice. I cannot speak for extended periods of time. Even when I do try to talk, my throat and my left ear gets more painful. I have to stay at home, content myself with "talking" thru written - or typed - words and look for ways to make myself productive online. I have to do something!
And that's when the great gift came.
I haven't been regularly updating this blog but over the past few days, a door has been opened for me to make full and good use of my passion for writing - a passion that I thought wouldn't amount to "much good" because a. I have limited audience b. I don't have much to write about c. I usually lack the time to expound on a poignant truth, an inspiring thought, a controversial issue or a creative idea.
When I first put up this blog, the idea was to make the posts relatable in a way that they are "not so insane, utterly mundane nor haplessly profane". Today, I have the privilege of writing with much more intentionality and relevance because, as God would have it, I am now a partner blogger with the Blog for Asia team!
I have nothing in me that I can boast about except the truth that I have personally experienced the transforming power of God's love. God is so real, so alive and He is very much at work! The world becomes smaller when we focus only on our own lives, our own problems, our own concerns. But when we take the focus away from ourselves and look unto God, He shows us amazing things that we can do with what we have - or don't have.
In my case, God has indeed shown that "In everything, He works out for the good of those who love Him and whom He has called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28). Rather than being depressed and feeling sorry for myself, He has shown me that there is something I can do, that I can be "a voice for the voiceless" in Asia and encourage others to be a part of the LORD's work as well. I'm also reminded that my worth does not have to come from what I can (or cannot) do for God but from what He has done.
Over the next few days, I will be blogging about the ministry of Gospel for Asia. I will also be sharing real stories, real accounts, of what God has been doing in the so-called 10/40 window. I am excited to see - by faith - how you will also be both willing and able to obey when God calls YOU to partner with Him to "do something." :)
I am a call center agent or - if I want it to sound a little bit impressive - a customer service professional. Though there are positions in the "back office" where one can take care of paper works or email, my job description requires my voice as my foremost tool. I've been hired to take calls for at least 40 hours each week.
Unfortunately, I "lost" my voice over the last 3 weeks. What I thought was only ear ache turned out to be laryngitis. At one point the ENT even told me that what I had was rhinopharyngolaryngitis. I was told that the pain in my left ear was just an effect of the swollen pharynx and larynx. I had some mucus stuck behind my ear drum because of post-nasal drip - instead of the colds coming out of my nostrils, they've been going to the back of my nose and got stuck somewhere in between my nose and throat. Well, that's how I understood the ENT's explanation.
I was advised to take a voice rest. I was given medications to decongest my nose, to relieve the swelling of my vocal cords and 'cure' the infection. The idea is for me to cough out the mucus or blow them out of my nose and heal my throat so I can take calls again. My husband confessed that he sometimes enjoys it when I have to either mimic what I want to say or write it down. I am also prohibited from eating sweet and spicy food, ice cream and drinking cold beverages.
So I don't have a voice. I cannot speak for extended periods of time. Even when I do try to talk, my throat and my left ear gets more painful. I have to stay at home, content myself with "talking" thru written - or typed - words and look for ways to make myself productive online. I have to do something!
And that's when the great gift came.
I haven't been regularly updating this blog but over the past few days, a door has been opened for me to make full and good use of my passion for writing - a passion that I thought wouldn't amount to "much good" because a. I have limited audience b. I don't have much to write about c. I usually lack the time to expound on a poignant truth, an inspiring thought, a controversial issue or a creative idea.
When I first put up this blog, the idea was to make the posts relatable in a way that they are "not so insane, utterly mundane nor haplessly profane". Today, I have the privilege of writing with much more intentionality and relevance because, as God would have it, I am now a partner blogger with the Blog for Asia team!
I have nothing in me that I can boast about except the truth that I have personally experienced the transforming power of God's love. God is so real, so alive and He is very much at work! The world becomes smaller when we focus only on our own lives, our own problems, our own concerns. But when we take the focus away from ourselves and look unto God, He shows us amazing things that we can do with what we have - or don't have.
In my case, God has indeed shown that "In everything, He works out for the good of those who love Him and whom He has called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28). Rather than being depressed and feeling sorry for myself, He has shown me that there is something I can do, that I can be "a voice for the voiceless" in Asia and encourage others to be a part of the LORD's work as well. I'm also reminded that my worth does not have to come from what I can (or cannot) do for God but from what He has done.
Over the next few days, I will be blogging about the ministry of Gospel for Asia. I will also be sharing real stories, real accounts, of what God has been doing in the so-called 10/40 window. I am excited to see - by faith - how you will also be both willing and able to obey when God calls YOU to partner with Him to "do something." :)
No comments:
Post a Comment
I value your feedback but NO SPAM please. Thanks for core-relating! :)