E-zine Article: At First I Didn’t Like Her
by Janelle H.
This story has been reposted for the e-zine. It was originally posted here.
Janelle follows Jesus as he leads her past her own “personality differences” and into the world of a lonely co-worker (the same kind sitting next to most of us as work). Janelle lost her life, her opinions, her prejudices, her tiredness, so her friend might find Jesus in a real way. And she did!
I met “Annie” (not her real name) on May 1st of this year when I got hired at the same office. At first I didn’t like her, she was so dark and moody, but I was determined to be a friend, and the ice began to slowly thaw until one day in August.
That day the dam broke and her story came gushing forth. The guy she’d met over the internet and had moved from a half a continent away to live with had dumped her.
Her life was devastated. She was starting over with nothing. It was easy to reach out, really. I mean who wouldn’t?
We helped her find a new house, scrape it, sand it, paint it and move her in – all the while assuring her, with hugs and donations from our church, that it would all work out.
Lots of God talks culminated in last night’s baptism in our back yard hot tub.
December 5th, 2006 · 3 Comments
Categories: OA Stories
April Terry said
am December 5 2006 @ 11:52 am
You know, this story is really gratifying in the sense that it culminated in a baptism, but so often the stories that we have don’t end with that kind of clarity or closure.
I just wanted to point out that most of the time, we don’t know the full ramifications of what our actions bring. However, we should still move forward in spite of our own lack of understanding.
NCxian said
am December 5 2006 @ 1:18 pm
Good point, April.
Bruce Logue said
am December 5 2006 @ 3:49 pm
Janelle, I think we’ve all had our own version of “Annie.” Someone we didn’t like or feel good about for whatever reason. But as you proved, we can be very wrong in our first impressions. Thanks for showing what can happen if we stick with people.