A Tribute, to a Life Well-Lived

     How does she do it? Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning she walks into the coffee shop, ready to face the day ahead of her. It's still dark outside, the shop is quiet, she might rather be in bed, or in her kitchen making breakfast for her kids. But she does it, with a smile on her face. I think her smile would be best described as joy. But more on this....

     
     You might be wondering who this angel of mercy is. Most folks that frequent the coffee house have met her and know that she comes in these weekday mornings. Her name is Rhonda Shrock. She has blessed me on numerous occasions. I am the sometimes sleepy-eyed, partially awake barista who smiles and gives her a mug for her coffee and a glass of ice water. Once she is settled in her favorite spot, a high table on the platform, I continue to go about my morning tasks. Sometimes, however, I stop in between tasks and just look out across the bar to her table. Sometimes she's folding her hands, eyes shut tight as she gives all her burdens to the One Who won her heart. She's a writer, a columnist with deadlines and a million things she has to do, but this is how she starts her day. She knows the only place her inspiration comes from is God; the only way she can do anything is by the hand of the One Who guides her. 

     
     She is an inspiration in so many ways. I ask again, "How does she do it?" In many ways, Rhonda's  life seems like an easy one. I have entertained thoughts about being a writer someday, and her job seems to be moderately easy. Her articles are generally focused around something God has shown her--someone she talked to or was blessed by, or things that happen with her husband and boys, or  chief and braves as she calls them :) "I could do that," I think to myself. "I could get up early and come to a coffee shop to write."  The more I have grown to know her, however, I see that her life is not as easy as that. She is a busy mother who will face piles of dirty laundry and unwashed dishes when she finishes here. She has a full-time job, besides the work she does for the paper. Her husband owns a business in town, and anyone who has ever owned a business knows how much sacrifice is involved. Not only that, but Rhonda faces trials in life just like everyone else; just like I do. 

   
     So now I am back to asking, "How does she do it?" I long for the joy and peace she seems to have so readily. I long to be attentive to the Spirit the way she is. And then it hits me. Of course I know   how she does it--how she has joy--I just witnessed it. She has God! And she has God because she has sought Him,even in the early hours of the morning. God has filled her, and the radiance on her face is not the makeup she quickly brushed on before she got here, it is the presence of God!
   
   Thank you, Rhonda, for being used by God. He used you to point me back to Him. To be lavished with His love and to be reminded how much I need Him.

~Please do not miss your chance to be blessed! Her beautiful website- http://rhondaschrock.com/