My Ordinary Miracle (Part Three)

"My name is Phoebe. I am lost. Can you give me directions?"

"I think 99% - you have the job," said the young manager who interviewed me, just two days before. I was surprised, honestly. She noticed my shock and explained that she liked the way I had presented myself. And seeing as theirs was a customer service business, i had fit the mould like a glove. However, her main concern, she said, was the fact that i had no previous customer service experience. "This job can be somewhat tough on newbies." I nodded solemnly, thanked her and left the room. She was right. I had no idea what customer service really meant.

But now, with a bag of clothes, books and hope, I arrived in Kuala Lumpur. I'd taken a bus down by myself and was waiting for my ride at the Pudu Station.

Whilst stacking my stuff into the van, my best friend asked me, "So, you'll need lots of other stuff right?" I nodded my head and proceeded with my list of very BASIC needs. He dismissed most of the list by offering to "loan" items to me. *chuckles* I was very fortunate that way. If I had to buy everything on that list, I would've been broke by the stroke of midnight!

Shortly after, I was selecting a cheap, comfortable mattress that I could rest on, for the next six months or so. Finally finding a reasonable buy, we headed to a little place that I would call my home from that day forward. After parking in front of a kindergarten, we walked towards the house. My friend was on the phone with my soon-to-be roommate, Jo Ann. Minutes later, bubbly Jo came out and handshakes were exchanged. I was a little quiet then; it was hard to swallow all at once. You have to understand, absolutely everything was new to me. The smell of the inside of the van, the thick air, the smiles, the faces, the information, the buildings, the way of life. Everything.

And for the first time in my life, I suddenly felt afraid.

The insecurity I felt is hard to describe. Maybe you've felt it before, maybe you haven't - but it wasn't pleasant, I can offer you that. I felt small-ish and very disillusioned. I was in who-knows-where, about to be doing who-knows-what for who-knows-how-long for who-knows-what-for. I wasn't really new to new environments. I'd been thrown into a few in the past couple of years. Somehow, this just felt different. Maybe it's because of the layer of stench that hung gloomily in our neighborhood. Maybe the purpose of the stint had seemed too unreachable then, that it felt like a wrong move. I'm not really sure. All I knew was that whether i liked it or not, I had already taken the plunge to work here. There was no time for cowardice acts of turning back.

I stood outside the house for a split moment, just soaking everything in. Besides the foul smell that clogged the air (from the pets next door), the house seemed small and cozy. It was livable and it was home. I remember much from my first night and had a great time talking to Jo before falling asleep at three in the morning.

It was 7.00 a.m. the following day, and I was nervous. I had taken the train to KLCC from Wangsa Maju and was now walking through Avenue K, hoping against hope that I'd remember how to get to work. (I'd only been there once before - for the interview, the previous week.) But I soon found my way. Training was just like school and the learning environment was pretty much enjoyable. But what intimidated us all was doing the job. In younger terms, it totally freaked us out, man! The product knowledge was beginning to overwhelm us, even those with experience were beginning to feel the heat. The first week after we were thrown onto the main floor to take calls, I was just interested in mere survival and had brushed off the tantalizing incentives of hitting the targeted number of calls. It had seemed so easy for my other batchmates but horribly impossible for me. My personality has always been such that I always felt obligated to help a particular caller the best i can - all the way through. And this of course, was damaging to my call-handling time. Longer calls, meant less calls taken.

I began to believe that I would never get any better and that I would probably be one of the earliest to be terminated. (We were all on three months probation, though our contract was 6 months.) There were days when all i felt like doing was running home and cowering under my blankets and pillows. I literally had to pray for courage and patience to go through each day --most callers were anger-provoking, abusive in speech, and nerve-wracking. It was so bad that whenever we did get a wonderfully rare, well-mannered caller, we'd wish aloud to our colleagues:

"Hey, I wish all our callers were like that!"

And there'll be a reception of empathic nods of agreement all 'round. Honestly, polite callers are as popular as Christmas presents! Once a year. And they make our day like hot chocolate and marshmallows would for a rainy day. So, praise God for good callers!

INTERMISSION: If you're a good caller, Phoebe commends thee for brightening the days of customer-service-representatives everywhere! Thanks for being our vanilla-frappucino-with-extra-whipped-cream-and-an-overlaying-of-caramel when we were pouting! Thanks for...(Errr, maybe I shouldn't let myself run too much with this.) Anyway, remember. A little goes a long way! *smiles*

Aside that, I was also doing Bible Studies with my best friend, which were a great spiritual encouragement. We were digging into Philippians and it was like an affirmation of our higher calling here on this earth. I learnt that we had to look past the trivial, to look past our selfish complains, to look past the darkness -- in order for us to be able to carry out His will and purpose and living His testimony.

Philippians 2:13-16
"...for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Do all things without murmuring and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world...,"

Those were some of the powerful messages that Apostle Paul left for us. We're doing this for Him. Not for ourselves, not for anybody else - but for Him.

Psalm 115:1a
"Not to us, O Lord, not to us,
But to Your Name be the glory..."

After slowly grasping this, believe it or not, sooner than later, i found myself hitting the target number of calls at a more consistent rate. I felt pleased with my progress, as i had not changed my policy of helping a customer all the way. I'd just become faster at handling my after-call activity. (Usually after each call, one is required to log the events of the call in a simple-yet-detailed manner(go figure), fill in various request forms, if needed and also complete any unfinished bookings, if any.) A stolen wallet and a broken pride later, imagine my surprise when i found myself to be only one of two persons from my batch of juniors to be confirmed after their third month!

Maybe I should explain the magnimity of this. Shortly after my batch were recruited for training, we were told that our project was closing. This meant retrenchment for my senior colleagues. For my batchmates, this meant nothing. We were on contract. This meant we could be terminated at any time. However, after three months, I was confirmed as a permanent staff! And that meant I was entitled to receive the retrenchment benefit/bonus!

I mean, which company, in their right corporate mind, would confirm someone in the midst of a closure? Whatever their reasons, I could not be more grateful! I walked away from the KUB.com building, with a two month benefit, atop my pay for the month. Adding that to my meagre savings, I had enough for one semester of tuition fees. (I only asked for one. My fault. *grins*) I have reason to believe that God was wholly in on this and when I did not expect it, had helped me, within six months (or maybe less), raise enough for me to reignite my dream to study again.

I tear as I type this. This was the real deal for me. And I believe it's not the end. My ordinary miracle had come with the size of my faith. With God's help and grace, I'm going to expand my faith, for greater ordinary miracles.

So,

Hello, I'm Phoebe. And I'm pleased to meet you. If you think you're lost; hey, I get lost too, more often than not. But, there's a purpose in being "lost". We begin asking for directions and eventually, we find the way.

God is my direction.

Hope He's yours too.