Daily Devotion - Lessons From My Hard Head Week 34

Week 34

I love Facebook! It has allowed me to reconnect with friends and family. Since joining Facebook, I have gained some new friends, and sadly, I have lost a few along the way.

In 2009, I noticed I had a friend request from a woman I had never met, but noticed that we had several mutual friends. I asked my husband about her, and it turned out that they were friends from New York. I decided to accept her request. My first contact with her was a Facebook inbox message explaining her connection to my family. I thanked her for reaching out to me. From that day forward, we shared news articles, we laughed at each other’s posts. We were passionate about the same subjects.

One Sabbath, I was leading Praise and Worship at church, and after our team sat down, I noticed I had an inbox message. I looked down and it was from her. She was home recovering from surgery and she was watching our services online. She wanted me to know the music we sang blessed her.

Initially, I just thanked her and wished her well in her recovery. Later that week, my mind kept wondering why she choose to watch our service. There were hundreds of churches who stream their services weekly. (Although I have watched a few who need to stop streaming. However, I digress.)

A few weeks later, I got another inbox message from my new friend and this time I asked. “Why do you watch our service each week?” Her response was “During the week, I’ve been watching you plan your music and you always tag yourself at rehearsals, so I know you’ve planned out a beautiful set”. I was flattered and surprised.

I began the habit of tagging myself at rehearsals just to prove to myself that my life was way too busy. I would sit down weekly and recount my rehearsals. I usually did it just so I knew how many things my kids had me doing. I never thought someone might be paying attention.

I was using my tags as proof to myself that I needed to slow my life down. It did not occur to me that someone was paying attention to my work ethic. God was using my life without me even knowing. I thanked my friend for reminding me that all things are working for our good. God uses us to share a message to others. Sometimes, He even uses us without our knowledge.

Sadly, my friend was fighting breast cancer during those years that she was watching me sing. Years later, I had an opportunity to meet her face to face. She inspired me by her love for music and her funny sense of humor. She was just as I imagined. We laughed at our friends and family’s Facebook post. We had a ball. One of her final her messages to me was that her cancer had spread and it had affected her speech. I might not hear from her much longer. I knew what she meant. I was heartbroken.

I lost her almost two years ago. However, the lesson she taught me is to be careful how you walk in this life because you never know who’s watching. Lesson learned.