Growth

First of all, I’m very sorry that I have not been faithful in keeping my blog updated. A lot has been going on in my world so here’s a synopsis.

McDonalds was pretty rough the first week; I wasn’t given much grace from my coworkers who were supposedly training me. There were a few times I was closed to tears and wanted to run out of my least favorite fast-food restaurant and never return. Thankfully, the Lord knew my weaknesses and provided a friend on project named Shelly to encourage me through work and remind me of our calling to serve God wherever we are.

God has really blessed me with “all the nations” at McDonalds where there are people from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Honduras, Columbia, Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Croatia, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, and I’m sure I’m missing one. Working at this McDonalds is like living in a Spanish-speaking country, which has been really helpful for practicing my Spanish. The reason there are so many Europeans is because there are about ten girls doing a work exchange. They are about my age and are really cool girls. I’m excited for our relationships to grow.

My heart towards sharing the Gospel with people I don’t know has being greatly transformed. Whether I am on the beach, on campus at Mesa College, at work, or on the bus it’s so apparent that people aren’t used to talking about spiritual things. It’s like no one has ever asked them their opinion before. Here’s a brief description of what it looks like when I am sharing. If I’m doing a survey, I’ll ask them if they have time for a 5-question survey and if they want to take it I ask them:

1.) What are three words that describe your life?

2.) What is one thing you want to make absolutely sure you do during your lifetime if at all possible?

3.) What do you believe happens after death?

4.) If your best friend came up to you and said, “I want to become a Christian but I don’t know how.” What would you tell him/her assuming that you couldn’t send them to another person or tell them to read a book?

5.) On a scale of 1-10, 10 being high, what is your desire to know God?

From there I tell them that’s they end of the survey, thank them for their time, and ask if I could share with them what I believe. If they want me to, I walk them through the Gospel. I give them answers to how they can have a relationship with Christ and/or get their contact information to set them up with a campus ministry, local church, or further meetings with me if they desire.

I haven’t done the surveys at work but the Lord has been providing me with opportunities to see where my coworkers are at spiritually.

Before project, I hadn’t really shared my faith with anyone and I wasn’t a huge fan of the idea. I saw it as infringing upon others’ personal lives and not necessary; my reasons for not sharing were out of fear—fear that I would offend someone, do a bad job, and make everything awkward. Hopefully you can see that the way I’m approaching them gives them tons of opportunities to turn me away. And people love to talk—about anything. It’s so obvious that our society devalues the majority of any spiritual talk because when I do the surveys with people, most of the time it’s like they’ve never even thought about what might happen after death.

It’s so great to know that regardless of how badly I may stumble through describing the Gospel, their salvation does not depend on anything I could do—it’s totally God working through me. Revelations 3:7 says, “What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open.” God is in complete control of every conversation. And for the days I want to go off of my own strength, Psalm 127:1 reminds me that “Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain.”

It was surprising to me to find out that there are more and more people who have never heard the Gospel, which should be reason enough for me to continue sharing. Shouldn’t everyone at least have the opportunity to know and receive the love that God has for him or her? The more I share, the more my amazement of the Gospel grows. “For the Word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

I would really appreciate prayer that the Lord would continue challenging me in my relationships with my coworkers, friends, and those I meet. That I would serve Him with boldness.