Support

Dr. Arnie cole

Pic. Credit. goTandem.com

The Cove Page of C L Magazine

Technical Support can be challenging some days. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a job I love, and one that suits me well. I’m a problem solver at heart (hence the Rubik’s cube on my desk) and there’s no better source of problems to be solved than in Technical Support. But some days, it just…gets to you.

By its very nature Technical Support is a negative job. Every morning I sift through email after email, voicemail after voicemail, and even several text messages from people asking for help with something that has gone wrong. They’ve forgotten their Username; their daily text messages have stopped for some reason; they appreciate the emails but please stop sending them.

And though it’s humbling to admit, more than a few mornings find me in a less than charitable mood after the umpteenth, “PLEASE HELP” request.

Recently, though, I was reminded that behind every one of those messages that irk me so, there is a living human being. It was “Jennifer” that reminded me of this important fact. After sending a couple, terse “STOP” requests to emails she had received, Jennifer also sent us an angry text message about how terrible it was that we would force someone to donate before we would pray for them.

It was a misunderstanding of course. At goTandem we greatly appreciate the generosity of our supporters, but we do not—and will not—force anyone—ever—to donate before (or after) praying for them!!

Over the course of a few emails, I was introduced to the real “Jennifer.” Not the Jennifer who just wanted the emails to stop, but the Jennifer who wanted the hurting to stop. The Jennifer struggling to make ends meet, and aching to be reconnected to the kids she hadn’t seen in years. The Jennifer longing to know that there was someone else standing with her, praying with her, without asking anything in return.

Pic. Credit.goTandem

Jennifer reminded me that my job—and the job of everyone here at goTandem is really about Support. Me, I handle the technical aspects of providing that Support. Others here offer Support through prayer, and others Support through encouragement. But most of all, we offer Support through bringing you the Word of God each and every day.

And so, I think I’ll close this note the same way I close all of my Technical Support emails by saying:

Thanks, and please let us know if there is anything else we can do to help.

Your friends at goTandem.