Monday night I received an email from the assistant manager at Garrett, asking if I was available for training Tuesday afternoon. It overlapped with the beginning of my small group, which we call action groups, but my discipler and I agreed that it was about time I started working, so I went in. The first day I was mainly learning my way around, including how to take out the trash, where to find cleaning supplies, etc. Before the end of the day I was handing out popcorn bags and calling out ticket numbers. If you have ever been to Garrett Popcorn Shops before, you know that the popcorn goes in one bag, which goes in another bag, which goes in another bag. It's pretty intense. But, long story short, even though the manager told me that training normally takes two weeks, I became a full-fledged member of the team after two days. I have so far worked four separate shifts, two 5-hour shifts and two 8-hr shifts. I even stayed to close this past Saturday.
There have been some times when the shop has gotten ridiculously busy. On Saturday we were out of caramel popcorn for like 10 minutes, and the orders were piling up because they just kept taking orders. There was a crowd of at least 30 people in the lobby! But in those moments I also find some joy, because with nothing else to do I get to interact with the people. After apologizing for the wait, I surveyed the crowd on where people were from, identified with the Michigan people, bantered with the Ohio State fans, and overall just had a good time. I enjoyed seeing some people in the crowd smile.
It has had some hard things involved as well. I witnessed some pretty strong verbal abuse by one of the customers to the child she was with. I froze, not knowing what I could or could not do, and ended up not doing anything. It makes me so angry thinking about it now, that someone could look at anyone and treat them like their opinion doesn't matter. But it is a blunt reminder that this world is so broken, this happens anywhere and everywhere people don't look at others as being made in the image of God himself. On this 4th of July, it fits to say that to be treated as such, that is an unalienable right.
Moving on, we come to Wednesday morning. I had known this week was when the students would be learning what roles we would be taking on so that the mission would keep running when the staff leave this Thursday the 7th. However, I was caught off guard when the Operations Director texted me asking if we could meet. I stopped into the coffee shop where he was on the way to my second day on the job, and he informed me that for the second half of the summer, I would be taking over the Operations Director Role.
What that means is I will be a full fledged director along with 3 other students, directors of the entire summer mission and the direction it will go for the next 5 weeks. Along with that, I will be in charge of the budget and all spending that will go on as we continue the pattern of activities we have established these first four weeks. There is a lot of paperwork, forms, and math that will go into this.
That night, the entire student leadership team, which consists of 15 students, met for the first time. It was there I understood certainly the weight of my role. Every student was divided up into boxes on a page, a flow chart depicting who reported to who and who was in charge of what. My name was one of the four at the top of the page. I am really going to be a leader. As the night went on, I felt my shoulders getting heavier and heavier as the roles were described and our task was laid out in front of us, the first being choosing a theme and bible passages that the rest of the mission would be studying for the rest of the summer in action groups, large group meetings, and individually. It was just so much, and there was so little time.
As we went to have our first brainstorming session immediately afterwards, I left the room and ran up and down the stairs, with each step saying in my head what my heart did not fully believe. "I'm in the image of God, his image was not erased within me." Over and over again, I reminded myself that God knows what he is doing, and that I am working in his name. He trusts me and believes in me, as the staff do as well or they would not have entrusted me with my role. I felt a lot better after that.
It has been 5 days since that night, and I have felt slightly less overwhelmed with every passing day. Sunday we had meetings for all of our roles, and because of the many roles I have to play, I was in a lot of meetings, and I was exhausted, but it was a good exhaustion. The rest of my summer starts soon, this Thursday night, as the staff symbolically walk out of the meeting and move out of the Dwight Friday morning. People always say summer mission doesn't start until the staff leave, and I am already starting to feel that.
I don't know what the rest of the summer will bring. Each day is a new adventure in learning how to walk in God's way that day. But I think that is how God has called us to live our lives. It is only because I am here in Chicago that I feel it so much more, as my worldly comforts of laziness, complacency, and exhaustive planning are taken away. Here, I am bare before the Lord, and he will mold me as he sees fit. It will be really hard, I know that. But I am ready, knowing that it is not my master that is shaping me, to whom I yield out of fear, but my Father to whom I yield out of love.
Special Shout Out: To my mom and younger brother, who flew out to visit me on what happened to be the absolutely worst weekend to visit and still made me so happy and content, encouraging me with every word and action. I only had a little while to write this, otherwise I would have written more.
Prayers:
- That God would guide myself and the other 3 directors in how to lead in a way that is honorable to him
- That God would guide our leadership team as we pick a theme, sub-themes, and scripture for the next few weeks
- That I would continue to remember that God desires to be with me even when I don't feel worthy, I am in his sight
- Praise that God gave me the role that he did, in anticipation of what he is going to teach me this summer
- That God would show me grace and humility as I learn to handle finances this week and have them handed over to me and my team next week.
- That I would rest in who God is and the certainty we have that no matter what, he will win in the end
- See other posts
Happy 4th of July!
-Austin
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