"R" is for Respect

I have a really hard time with people I work with lately! I am focused, hard working and ready to roll as my day starts! This is not the case with those around me! Instead of rallying round each other it is mostly a fight, a division of sorts and really rotten!

Regardless of this mayhem I have tried to resolve some of the issues and respect the people involved. It is hard to do! So I have to consult the guy who gets big results! You might know Him. He is God! I am constantly referring to Him! He reminds me to be respectful. Often the kinder you are the worse the results! He disagrees! He feels the reality of it all is going to work itself out. So I pray. Then I pray harder. It is my mantra. Those are words burned into my brain! My mother, God rest her soul. repeated this to me in my life on a daily basis. So I tell my children the same thing!

This is good advice: Always say a prayer. So while I am trying to sort through difficult feelings in the work place I remember these  phrases and rely on them heavily!

Now I don't want to act disrespectful and drag a persons character through the mud but my co worker has been having some wild times since her husband asked her for a divorce. They were married a long time, thirty years and he wants out! She has met a variety of men on line and the process is rude and ruthless  . I certainly do not wish to come off as judgmental but I think sometime we can set ourselves up for failure by the bad choices we make. We have all done it. My concern is, that although she and I are not close and she is difficult to work with, often piling work on others, I feel badly for her. I feel like a shrink at times, because I start to analyze her situation. I don't think she had a lot of love as a child from her parents and apparently the marriage had its difficulties she may not disclose.  Something has caused her to break to the point I feel she is risking her safety and putting herself into very dangerous situations with strangers. Her story is rather long and unconventional but I think Satan is attacking her on all fronts! Last week she had a mammogram and having survived breast cancer on her left side she received a call stating they needed her to return tomorrow to do more testing. They don't like something they are seeing on her right side! I was alone with her at the time and I tried my best to console her. It is always scary facing the unknown. So I told her I would share this and pray and ask for prayer.

I own a copy of this portrait. It is called a "Hook Head" and the late artist Richard Hook portrayed Christ as he felt he might have looked. I think he did an excellent job and I have this portrait hanging in our bedroom as it has hung for the past twenty nine years. My high school pal Randy gave this to me. He worked for a local Christian book store and  I have always treasured it. I hope you will pray for my co worker Theresa as I continue on my journey of realizing respect for those I am with during the work day for eight hours five days a week.

Come visit Ms. Jenny and participate with all of us while we share the letter "R" today! I am remaining respectful to my co worker and praying for her. I hope and pray that  respect will catch on where I work! Aretha Franklin sang it best when she belted out the hit song  R-E-S-P-E-C-T ! In the society we live in today it is often difficult to find some respect. So as I leave you tonight here are a few quotes about respect:

"Respect commands itself  and it can neither be given or withheld when it is due." Eldridge Cleaver

"There is no respect for others without humility in one's self." Henri Fredric Amiel

"When men and women are able to respect and accept their differences then love has a chance to blossom." John Gray