In Everything Give Thanks 6-25-16

 Today, I am thankful for many things!

1. A plane ride. I love flying, and I don't know when I'll be able to fly again. 

2. The kind lady on the plane who bought me cough drops.

3. A few days off work.

4. Being able to celebrate the marriage of a dear friend from college, today. 

A Real Cashier

 I remember playing store with my sister when we were young. One of us had received a toy cash register one Christmas that came with toy food and a small conveyor belt. We each took turns being the cashier and the customer, though both of us always wanting to be the cashier, pretending to scan each item and making the "beep" sound as the bananas and cans go through.

 Now, I'm a real cashier at my local dollar store. The inner child in me still loves scanning merchandise. I enjoy the motions of sliding the cereal box across the metal, hearing the beep, and putting it in the bag, only to do it again. 

 But it's a little different now. There's a computer involved that I am still trying to figure out. I have to card people when they buy alcohol or tobacco. I have long lines of people with impatient faces and crying children. There are procedures and systems that don't make sense. I have to tell people to take a survey that I know they don't want to take. Discounts don't ring up, so I call up the manager and the line grows longer as she finds the sign that offers the sale then squabbles with the computer. The stakes are high; if I let a minor buy tobacco, I could lose my job. I have to watch out for shoplifters and follow safety procedures. My co-workers, though none of them mean, are not always easy to work with and make me feel like I am messing things up. Due to the lack of employees, I am being forced to learn by trial and error, which I love when I get a new electronic device, but not when other people's happiness, life, and my job are at stake. I like the swiping. I like hearing the beep. I love the older ladies that smile at me and tell me to take my time. But it's not anything like the fun I imagined when I was five.

 Other than making me emotionally, physically, and mentally exhausted, I'm not sure where this leaves me. Though I never thought I would be my favorite pastime, I now know for sure that I don't like working retail. Yet I have to go back to work. I am looking for another job, but most of the ones I have found are still part time, which would add to my income but not let me leave my retail position.

 I guess this leaves me where I am now discovering everything eventually leads to- thanksgiving and prayer. 

Thanksgiving

 I have a job, and that is a huge blessing. Though I don't like it, it is better than many other jobs, like being a garbage man, a soldier, or working at a cemetery. Maybe as I get to know my co-workers more I can share the gospel with them and invite them to church which is right around the corner from where I work.

 Prayer

  God, I pray that You will give me the strength to get through this job for as long as You have me there. Please help me be at peace, to not be afraid of the fast paced work environment, to simply do my best and be a light for You. However, I also ask that You will provide for me a different job that is more suited to my personality, strengths, and the direction I would like my career to go. 

In Everything Give Thanks 6-11-16

 1. This week, I am especially thankful that I was offered two part time jobs. Neither one is my dream job and I am not sure that logistically I can do both, but either way I am now employed, and that is a huge answer to prayer. 

2. I am also excited that my sister and I will have a long weekend by ourselves while our parents are away. We are going to have so much fun! We made spanakopita for dinner last night and it tasted so good.

3. Finally, I am thankful for my journaling Bible that I finally made my first notes in from last week's sermon. 

Dear Twenty-Three Year Old Me

 Dear Twenty-Three Year Old Me,

  I don't know where you're living exactly one year from today. Maybe you'll be on your own in an apartment. Maybe you'll still be living at home. I don't know what you're doing for a job or who your friends are. I hope our friends stay the same, but maybe there will have a mix of both new and old friends.

 I don't think I need to remind you how much stress my current unanswered questions are causing right now. Do you remember? Where should I live? Can I go back to Michigan? Maybe I should live at home longer to save money. Where will I work? How can I afford a car? Should I go to grad school? How can I afford grad school?

 Or maybe I do need to remind you.

 Maybe, now that a whole year has passed and I'm twenty-three, maybe you don't remember all of the questions and uncertainty. Maybe you have settled somewhere and are happy and content. 

 I hope so.

 But even if there is still all of the uncertainty and questions then that there are in my life now, there are some things I know for sure.

 I know I am reading when I am twenty three. I am reading fiction and non-fiction. I am scouring the library for something I haven't read that is decent and good quality.

 I know I am writing when I am twenty-three. I'll probably still be working on my novel, but I will be closer.

 I know I am still a child of God when I am twenty-three, for no one is able to snatch me out of my Father's hands.

 I know that God's promises to me are the same now and will be the same in a year, five years, and until He comes back to earth.

 So twenty-three year old me, in these unanswered questions and uncertainties that I may still have a year from now, there is nothing to fear. 

In Everything Give Thanks

 

I'm trying something new, and every Friday or Saturday, I'm going to share some things that I am thankful for. Though feeling discontent is nothing new for me, it has become a bad habit as well as a bigger pattern in my life recently, and I want to fight it with recognizing things God has given me today.

 So today, these are things I am thankful for.

 1. The first hike of the summer. Last weekend, my dad and I did an easy hike to ease our way into more challenging hikes later this summer. Except for a bug getting caught in my eye and all the other little gnats that were freakishly attracted to me, it was so much fun. Plus, I am excited to be finally wearing my Christmas present, these new hiking boots. 

2. The smash book my mom made for me. It's a personalized journal that is filled with fun pockets, envelopes, and tags. My sister loves them because instead of writing her memories, she can put in airplane tickets, notes from friends, lists, movie tickets, and other things that she collects. I am planning on making mine a special memory book from my freshman year of college. 

  3. Thank you letters. I sent out quite a few thank you letters this week, and of course you can't write thank you letters without having something to be thankful for.