by Catherine Hellman
Just before Christmas, I decided to get a part-time job to earn a little money while I was looking for more permanent employment or an internship as part of my master’s degree. I applied to some local businesses, one of which was a women’s clothing store. Though I liked shopping there, I never thought I’d work there. In fact, just the opposite. I thought I would never work in retail! It wasn’t that I thought there is anything wrong with retail, but it just wasn’t what I wanted to do.
As I waited patiently for a job to work out, I thought about a line from The Lord’s Prayer, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”I knew that wherever God needed me to be, She would guide me there. Interestingly enough, the first place that called me for an interview was the clothing store and they even offered me a position. I couldn’t believe it!
Since I was working hard not to be picky, I accepted the job. I thought that if something better came along I could always quit. My first day of work happened to be the storewide meeting that was to kick off the Christmas holiday season. I went—apprehensively—to check things out.
After watching a movie sent from the store’s headquarters, the managers introduced a game. Now, I am in no way trying to disrespect those who love clothes and fashion. I have true respect for them because though I love color and art, fashion has never been my strong suit. So when the manager said we would be playing a game where we were to create a wardrobe in teams, my immediate thought was, “Have I ever created a wardrobe before? Do I even have one?” Then I thought, “What am I getting myself into?”
When I got home, I told my parents about the meeting and my thoughts about the game we played. We had a very good laugh about it, but it got me thinking. I’d prayed about my temporary employment and was led to work at this store. I felt that this was where I needed to be, no matter how much I resisted. But why did God need me at a women’s clothing store? I am a masters student studying intercultural service, leadership, and management. Retail was not what I wanted to do with my life. So why was I doing this?
As my first real day of work approached, I changed the way I was thinking about this experience. I knew I had a purpose for being there. I just didn’t know what it was.
So, as I walked into the store on my first day of working with customers, I decided that I would try to pray every moment I was doing routine work and I would do my best to wrap each person I met in the arms of Love, God, and to see them as God’s beautiful daughters. Little did I know that this change of thought would reveal my purpose for being there.
A few days later, a woman came in looking for an outfit for her mother. We spent 45 minutes together creating a complete outfit that her mother could wear to celebrate her 50th anniversary. Her parents were going to renew their vows in a church since they were first married in a courthouse and never had a real wedding. During the time we were looking for the right outfit, there was a sense of peace and healing as I prayed to see God in this small adventure. This woman’s mother had Alzheimer’s and it had been a challenging road. And this outfit represented more to my customer then just a purchase for a wonderful day. It represented a lifetime of beautiful memories that could not be touched by this disease. This experience touched me so much that I realized why I was there, to recognize God in all of the women’s lives I met.
Since that day, I have helped all kinds of women. We’ve exchanged stories of our adventures, celebrated births, weight loss, and womanhood. I’ve been able to give support to women coping with divorce, deaths, suicides, and fatal illnesses. While I haven’t seen instantaneous physical healings, I have seen a growth in love expressed by the women I help, the women I work with, and in me.
Though I swore I would never work in retail, it’s been such a rewarding experience for me. I’ve learned that no matter what I’m doing, each experience is an opportunity to prove God’s love for all Her children. So now when I say “I will never,” I check myself because who knows what lesson God needs me to learn next!
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I like how you found a substantial way to help people in fashion — something that seems superficial in a lot of ways. Thanks for showing how we can find a deeper purpose no matter what we are doing.
Thank you for this article. It reminded me of an experience I had one year when I took a job in a large department store over the Christmas holiday. Applying what I was learning in my study of Christian Science about loving others, helped me assist many people in such a way that their stress from shopping was lessened. Sometimes I even helped them fill out their gift lists with ideas of what to buy each person — all within the store. Several came back as they were leaving store to tell me that they had completed their shopping and to thank me for my help, which I knew was only Love expressing Herself. Those experiences made that Christmas special.
Wow, thanks for sharing. I love how every experience blesses us, especially when we least expect it!