CHAPTER.one
Don't Sweat the Small Stuff
For those of you who do not know, my day job is cashiering at Home Depot. Today, I had the opportunity to man the garden register. This is Yuma, in August. Needless to say, being outside on concrete for a 6 hour shift presented a wealth of chances to implement the points.
Everyone's time is valuable.
However, in retail you will find that everyone demands that their time be considered the most valuable. There is no time to be selfish with. The moment you try to hoard minutes to yourself is the moment that the cogs start falling out of the machine.
Tonight at myChampion I had the opportunity to run lights. While running lights, you have to push the buttons. Plain and simple. I know this sounds obvious. But, tonight it struck me in a way that wasn't-so-obvious. You have to coordinate motion and color and brightness with time in the song, and time in the service. Light is a very visible medium, and even more visible when it isn't the way that it should be. I couldn't slack. There was great accountability in my ability to focus. I had to lay everything aside for the sake of the time people were spending, and experiencing in that service. There were souls attached to every action.
Admittedly, that sounds so huge that it probably is a bit hard to grasp. I'll put it another way. If I don't water the plants in the nursery, they aren't going to get watered. Without water in the desert, they will die, and there won't be any product to sell. Not good.
This morning I did not feel like I was off to a good start. I lost my sticky note. I was out in garden, which can be so physically trying that sometimes it's hard to be at all focused on any kind of growth. But, tonight's service really tied into what I had been thinking on all day with this challenge. I was encouraged.
Part of considering others' time more valuable than your own is that sometimes you will have to wait to do what you want to do. You might have to stand on a patio for 6 hours because the time saved by the customers using a register that is more convenient to them (even if this register is on the surface of the sun) is more valuable than time spent alone in air conditioning having no positive impact on anyone's life. A transaction should last roughly 90 seconds. In the summer time, not a whole lot of people shop for plants. Most of my time is spent watering, sweeping, or twiddling my thumbs.
There is potential in that.
Tonight Pastor Amanda taught that we had to be still in order to hear the voice of God. She said there is the potential in stop lights and grocery lines to be still and know that He is God. Take a moment, and listen. Here I am hearing that if I intend to stop sweating the small stuff, I will need to be in much deeper communication with God than I am currently, and He has positioned me in a place where I am being paid to have nothing better to do than to talk to Him. He is going to continue to walk me around the barn until I get it. Sure, it's hot outside-- but, anything less than that and I would get preoccupied. It's much easier to entertain yourself when you aren't roasting.
Where are you going?
We are meant to live an abundant life. This does not spell out to me a glorious existence of riches, fame, or success. The abundant life I seek is abundant of God. Where He can be found in every corner of my life, and in every crevice of my thoughts. Where He is my sole purpose for living. This is an amazing life I have envisioned. Could you imagine a world where God is that present? If He is going to be that present in the world, He will first need to be that present in us.
Psalm 46:10
There is so much more room in our lives for God. I believe He will expand us to fit Himself in us. As a course of this we will live expansive lives to His glory, and to His glory alone.
Wrap - Up.
Ok. Tomorrow we will work on brevity.
To sum up what I feel I have learned today:
- Value others' time more than your own
- Consider what their story is
- Seek to see the potential in things
- Evaluate the priority of the situation
For those of you who do not know, my day job is cashiering at Home Depot. Today, I had the opportunity to man the garden register. This is Yuma, in August. Needless to say, being outside on concrete for a 6 hour shift presented a wealth of chances to implement the points.
Everyone's time is valuable.
However, in retail you will find that everyone demands that their time be considered the most valuable. There is no time to be selfish with. The moment you try to hoard minutes to yourself is the moment that the cogs start falling out of the machine.
Tonight at myChampion I had the opportunity to run lights. While running lights, you have to push the buttons. Plain and simple. I know this sounds obvious. But, tonight it struck me in a way that wasn't-so-obvious. You have to coordinate motion and color and brightness with time in the song, and time in the service. Light is a very visible medium, and even more visible when it isn't the way that it should be. I couldn't slack. There was great accountability in my ability to focus. I had to lay everything aside for the sake of the time people were spending, and experiencing in that service. There were souls attached to every action.
Admittedly, that sounds so huge that it probably is a bit hard to grasp. I'll put it another way. If I don't water the plants in the nursery, they aren't going to get watered. Without water in the desert, they will die, and there won't be any product to sell. Not good.
This morning I did not feel like I was off to a good start. I lost my sticky note. I was out in garden, which can be so physically trying that sometimes it's hard to be at all focused on any kind of growth. But, tonight's service really tied into what I had been thinking on all day with this challenge. I was encouraged.
Part of considering others' time more valuable than your own is that sometimes you will have to wait to do what you want to do. You might have to stand on a patio for 6 hours because the time saved by the customers using a register that is more convenient to them (even if this register is on the surface of the sun) is more valuable than time spent alone in air conditioning having no positive impact on anyone's life. A transaction should last roughly 90 seconds. In the summer time, not a whole lot of people shop for plants. Most of my time is spent watering, sweeping, or twiddling my thumbs.
There is potential in that.
Tonight Pastor Amanda taught that we had to be still in order to hear the voice of God. She said there is the potential in stop lights and grocery lines to be still and know that He is God. Take a moment, and listen. Here I am hearing that if I intend to stop sweating the small stuff, I will need to be in much deeper communication with God than I am currently, and He has positioned me in a place where I am being paid to have nothing better to do than to talk to Him. He is going to continue to walk me around the barn until I get it. Sure, it's hot outside-- but, anything less than that and I would get preoccupied. It's much easier to entertain yourself when you aren't roasting.
Where are you going?
We are meant to live an abundant life. This does not spell out to me a glorious existence of riches, fame, or success. The abundant life I seek is abundant of God. Where He can be found in every corner of my life, and in every crevice of my thoughts. Where He is my sole purpose for living. This is an amazing life I have envisioned. Could you imagine a world where God is that present? If He is going to be that present in the world, He will first need to be that present in us.
Psalm 46:10
"Be still, and know that I am God;I am excited to think of being able to be constantly talking to God. Most of that will just be honing self-discipline. I know it is possible. We are to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17) and while I understand there are different viewpoints to what "without ceasing" means- it definitely points to a lot of communication. More than what I feel I am doing now.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth."
There is so much more room in our lives for God. I believe He will expand us to fit Himself in us. As a course of this we will live expansive lives to His glory, and to His glory alone.
Wrap - Up.
Ok. Tomorrow we will work on brevity.
To sum up what I feel I have learned today:
To seek God in all things, to trust Him, and be still knowing He is God, will align your priorities and allow God to work in His strength and there won't be much sweating at all.
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