The Scan

      In my job, the end of the fiscal year was approaching and we were required to fill out self-evaluations. My supervisor instructed me to scan the evaluation and send it to Bill, who was in charge of the evaluations. I don’t often use the scanner, so whenever I do, there seems to be a new model, with many buttons, doo-dads and incomprehensible instructions. As I was fiddling with these buttons, Sally offered to help me scan the evaluation. However, when she saw that the document was 2-sided, she called over a man, who she said had more expertise with scanning 2-sided documents. He was very helpful in getting the document scanned and seemed slightly puzzled when I requested that it be emailed to my office email.
      Back at my computer, the document did not arrive in my in-box, so I went back to the scanner to check on what happened. I discovered that there was a typo in the my email address,so it was sent to somewhere in email-never-never-land. So, after some trials, I was able to re-scan the evaluation and send it to my correct email address.
      Then, I was perplexed about whether the document had been scanned in the correct format (pdf, etc) required by our administration. I emailed Bill and asked if the format of the scan was correct. It was mystifying and irritating that he did not answer my email at all, since the deadline of submitting evaluations was fast approaching.
      After several hours without an answer from Bill, I was walking in the hallway and noticed, absent-mindedly, that the man, who first helped me scan the evaluation, passed by. He paused and greeted me and said that the document was fine in the format that it was scanned in. He introduced himself as “Bill”! So, the man, who had helped me with the original scan was Bill, the person to whom I was supposed to send the scanned document! No wonder he was puzzled that I wanted to email the document to myself! I began laughing and so did he! Such a big company and I did not even know what Bill looked like. The document was in the correct format all along and I forwarded it to Bill.
      Twenty-five years ago, these evaluations were written questions on a form and we gave paper copies to the office administrator. Now, everything is computerized, high tech. It would have been so simple to just bring Bill a copy of the evaluation, than to have him scan it, send it to me and back to him, all the time, not even recognizing who we were.
      Thankfully, communication with our Heavenly Father does not change with the times and is always direct. He is always available, doesn’t change his name or office or hours, does not require scans, pdfs. We can speak to Him out loud or silently, any place, any time, yet He hears, even though He is Creator of the universe. What an amazing blessing!