The Interview

My friend Anne called. “Do you have a color printer?”

“Yeah, do you need to use it?”

“No, one of the gals in the office needs to interview a mom who owns a color printer. Would you be willing to talk to her?”

“I suppose . . .”

“Great. I’ll put her on.” I hear the phone change hands.

“Hi Lisa, I’m Kristin and I’m working on the Epson account here at Brighte Advertising. I’d like to interview you about your color printer. Take some video; get some samples of what you print. It would only take about an hour and we’ll pay you.” Her request shot at me.

“Hmm. I’m not sure I’m the one you’re looking for. I don’t use my printer that much, a couple times a week maybe.”

“That’s okay. We don’t want a professional user.”

“Well . . . samples would just be like my son’s homework, mailing labels, a few other things maybe, not much.”

“It sounds fine, really. I need to get this done for a meeting day after tomorrow.”

“Oh. . . Well, I’m busy tomorrow I guess you could come some time today.”

“Great, let me just grab someone to shoot the video and we’ll be over in 45 minutes.”

“Okay. . .” Stunned I hung up. This was the weirdest thing to happen to me in a long time.

I sat down at the computer to pull together some samples. I printed out my son’s spelling homework, a couple pages of my manuscript, some mailing labels and our Christmas letter with photos. As I stood by the printer waiting for the samples I got nervous. What do I know about printers? I don’t have enough expertise to do this. I tried to tell Kristin I couldn’t be the one you want. The doorbell rang, too late. Kristin and Ken.

“Thank you so much for doing this.” I smiled wondering if she’d feel the same way when it was over. I showed them into my home office and Ken set up his equipment.

“Okay, tell us about yourself.” I laughed, this is odd. “You know name, family, job, etc.” This has nothing to do with color printing I thought but I gave them a 2 minute this-is-me-speech.

Finally Kristin’s questions got around to the printer: Why this printer? How often did I use it? How important is it to my work? I had opinions and answers for everything. I surprised myself how passionate I got. Of course it helped that Kristin asked lots of questions and Ken filmed my every word. I felt rather important.

“I hope you got what you wanted.”

“Thank you so much that was perfect. You were great.” I blushed and wondered if it was true.

Truly that was the weirdest thing that’s happened to me in months. I spent several days afterward mulling over my 15 minutes of limited fame. My musings lead me to a comparison, What if I’d been asked to share my belief in Christ? What if I’d had 45 minutes to prepare for an interview about my faith? The same objections came to mind. I’m not the one you want. I don’t have enough expertise to do this. I don’t have an impression story. I can’t be the one you’re looking for. And yet, I feel more strongly about God than I do a color printer! I happily talked about a machine I use occasionally. I should be thrilled to discuss a faith I use daily.

Surprise, we are asked to do this very thing, share our faith at a moment’s notice. When the opportunities present themselves we must grab them. Sharing your faith need not be a well thought out presentation you spent hours on. Share your faith in a moment. A kind word to the cashier, a quick conversation with a co-worker, a simple phone call to a friend. Little opportunities abound daily. Say something. Be passionate about your faith. You can do it. Simply answer when asked, don’t hold back, you are the right person for the job. When faith lives strongly within you, it’s easier to share at a moment’s notice.

Posted 4/30/2008 @ 2:22 PM | Weekly Thoughts