Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: Vanity (11/15/18)
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TITLE: Anna's life story | Previous Challenge Entry
By Gloria Pierre Dean
11/22/18 -
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Despite obeying all the man-made rules and complying with her managers, it all seemed so useless.
Daily she questioned herself.
" Was it worth it? I get up early seven days a week, I get to work on time and I have so little rest."
“No one likes me at work,” she said to no one. She was lonely and she was the 'hated' boss. She knew this because had overheard many bathroom conversations.
The business was prosperous so the owners loved her.
However, she had no social life and no fun. Her soul was dry!
Her life began to change one day when a co-worker Pat spoke to her.
She was a Christian. She was the only person who was ever friendly to her.
One day in the carpark, Pat spoke to her.
"Anna," she said with a smile "I know you are unhappy but God loves you and is a Great Father when we trust ourselves to him".
She tried not to be offended at such a direct statement.
However, the seed was sown. She did not go to church except for weddings and funerals.
On one of her few Sundays off, Anna went to a local church
and strangely, the sermon was about Vanity. The pastor defined it as " excessive pride in or admiration of one's own appearance or achievements".
The room spun as she sat there listening to him read out her life story. Tears came to her eyes.
The 'work ethic' that ruled her life, drove away her friends and made her the most arrogant driver in the neighbourhood; all seemed to stem from pride and vanity.
As a child she had hardly gone to church. Her parents were not believers.
Over time, she decided to start reading the Bible and as she delved further into what said in the Word, she found that Solomon had written many wise verses. Many of them impacted her deeply; one more than the others -
"Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun."[Ecclesiastes 3:11].
Life changed for Anna. She returned to the church, spoke to the Pastor and gave her life to the Lord.
It took time, but with much prayer and support, she learned to put God first and not work and success. She studied online for a degree and became an assistant minister. She worked shorter hours and became a joyful child of God.
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