Set Apart

Yay! A moment to blog! I am finally back to work after having the winter off, and I am finding less and less free time to do what I enjoy. Although I really enjoy my job. Our topic in Sunday School this morning was concerning work. A man had won 3 million dollars in the lottery and after a short break went and asked for his job back. Why? He certainly didnt need the money. Could it be that working at his job made him happy? Fulfilled? Content? I think so.

When I first moved to Branson I saw the Showboat out on a cruise in the middle of the lake, and I prayed right then and there. I wanted to work there. I applied and got the job as a server. This is my 3rd season there. Over the winter break I applied for a few different jobs. I have a decent resume, but I got no calls back. Seems the Showboat is still where God wants me. The part time hours work well with my family, but just like any other job there is always room for improvement. Like having Sundays off. No body out there likes to work Sundays. I prayed before going back that if this is where God wanted me He was going to have to work out the Sunday issue. I asked for that day off, and I dont know anything yet, but I have faith that if this is where I'm supposed to be He will work it out according to His plans.

I was a stay-at-home mom for alot of years. This is where my hubby wanted me. I was very resistant to it. As everyone already knows from my previous blog, I'm not cut out for housework. However my children are my life, and I knew that it was important to be with them. No body else can raise them the way Mom can. Now Im far from the perfect Mom, so dont get wrong ideas from that statement! When my baby started preschool and kindergarten I found myself with a little more free time on my hands. I took a part time job. I even worked a little bit in the classroom with my child and got paid for it. Imagine! Getting paid to brush my teeth, and take naps, and color, and put together puzzles, and eat graham crackers! I found it very fulfilling.

After this is was easier for me to be able to go home and do what needed done. I didnt feel like life was so monotonous. I was meeting new people, making friends, and earning a little extra money for the things we wanted.

Things are a little different for me today. I still work because I want to, not out of necessity. God has blessed me in that way. Work for me is an extracurricular activity. We could get by without my job, but I am sure a better person when I work. I just have to keep the right balance. I have to put God first, family next, then my job. Thats why it works.

I know God has a plan for me at the Showboat. Why else would He keep me there? It is a wonderful place to "work as if working for the Lord." Somedays can be very trying, especially since I am a server. Jesus was a "server" also! He came to serve and not to be served. I have days when I think of myself as "just a waitress", but I know it goes deeper than that.

Working in a restaraunt you find all kinds of different people. It is just a different kind of atmosphere. Most are good people, but not everyone is a Christian. That can make things difficult on those of us who are. I mean those of us who choose to walk the walk, and let others know who we "serve". I am not sure where the verse for this is. I really looked for it. It is the one that tells us to be in the world, yet set apart. Every day I have to pray for this for myself. There are some really fun people I work with! They just sometimes do "things" I can not, or have conversations I cant join in, etc..... They know why I dont. They respect that. Most of them also try to show respect when I'm around. They still like me. They just dont invite me anymore! I'm not an in your face preaching sort of person. I try to be that still, small voice. I try to live by example. I try to follow 1 Peter 3:15 which says, "But in your hearts, set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect."

I think the key here is gentleness and respect. If I give them the opposite, they arent going to want anything to do with my God!

This was just really on my heart today. I may never know "why" God wants me here. Thats ok. I will serve Him here, I will serve him there, I can serve him anywhere!