A month goes by and I finally get a call from my my friend who's dad is a manager at the Papa John's here in town. The manager didn't call me, his son did. I had an interview.
This interview shouldn't have even been called an interview. I basically went in there and just talked to him about what the pay would be like and what hours I would be working. And then I filled out my paper work and came in the next week to start work. I wasn't particularly excited because when I went in for my interview, I realized that there were ONLY men working there. I'm not the most comfortable person when it comes to being surrounded by those of the opposite sex, but a job is a job and if one thing is for sure, it's that God definitely wants me to be out of my comfort zone this summer.
My first day at work... not so great. I went in and found out that this girl I knew from high school would be training me. She's a year younger than me and has never really liked me all that much. She was always one of the popular girls and I was a band geek. We never really talked, but I would always see sideways glances coming from her direction in the lunch room. Anywho, that doesn't really matter. The point is, she basically made my first day at work the most horrific day I could have asked for.
The first day I was working I was training on phones taking orders. The computer system Papa John's has is ANCIENT! And so difficult to get the hang of because it's not very efficient and when you have a hungry customer on the other end of the phone that is getting upset because you have to re-enter their order because you wrote it in wrong the first time, that customer tends to get very frustrated very quickly.
So, while struggling to do anything right while taking an order, my trainer decides that it'd be a fabulous idea to just stand there and laugh while I am sinking faster than the Titanic. And after I finally finish taking the order and getting yelled at by the customer, she decides that it'd be beneficial to rattle off everything that I did wrong and not tell me how to fix it. Can you say discouragement?
Did I also mention that one of my ex-boyfriend's best friends is a shift manager there as well? That was awesome. All of his friends hate me because of some silly little lie he told them 3 years ago. This boy spoke about me with profanity and laughed at my failures. Needless to say, this was a pretty awful first day of work.
When I went home that day after work I was so upset and wanted to quit more than anything else in the world. I couldn't imagine a worse job. I have to work with people who don't like me, nobody else knows me, none of my coworkers are believers, and I get checked out by guys who are twice my age. Not my ideal job, not a comfortable environment, and not good for my self-esteem. Somewhere deep down I knew that I needed to keep this job though. So, that night before I went to bed I spent a good hour or so with God just praying that it would get easier, that I wouldn't suck at my job tomorrow and that the people at work would be nice to me.
The next day while I was driving to work I had a knot in the pit of my stomach that felt like I had swallowed a huge ball of raw pizza dough. That's when I knew I needed to start praying again. I prayed for a calm heart and for a good day at work, but most of all that I would be able to reach out to those who I worked with to show them the love of Jesus. I clocked in and just stood there because I had no idea what my manager wanted me to do and he was no where to be found. Then my ex-boyfriend's best friend came over and asked me if I needed help clocking in (in a nice way). I was so confused, but so grateful that he had been gracious and wanted to help me out.
Then, my manager walks in with another guy who looks to be in his mid 30's and tells me that he is going to be my new trainer. Basically, I didn't know whether to be relieved or scared, but I knew that I had to deal with it. Turns out, he's an awesome guy, he's married, and he's super nice. He showed me a lot of new things on the computers that I could do to make taking orders easier and worked with me through the order taking process. He encouraged me to ask questions and assured me that everyone is this terrible when they first start. By the end of the day, I was a pro at taking orders.
Throughout this 2 1/2 weeks of working at Papa John's I have learned some amazing things about the Lord.
1. Prayer WORKS. I pray on my way to work every day that I will have a chance to open up to my coworkers and get to know them better and God never fails to answer those prayers. I also pray that I won't suck at my job that day and that God will give me wisdom. I also pray that I will be given opportunities to share the Gospel with someone (that one hasn't happened yet, but these things take time). My number one prayer is that at work I will shine God's love to my coworkers and be an example of Christ. I fail at it miserably most of the time, but I know that God gives me the ability to live a life led by the Holy Spirit.
2. Reliance on God is crucial to our well being and ability to live a life apart from this world. During my first week at work I had every reason to quit this job. It's horrible pay, horrible hours, people were mean to me, and I failed at everything I did. I realized that and realized that I needed God to do this for me because there was no way I was going to make it on my own (I seriously would have quit). And now I can confidently say that I don't believe any of that is true. Okay, maybe the horrible pay part and I do need to find a second job, but my attitude towards those facts has changed significantly.
3. I CAN do something I'm terrible at if I let God intercede and work hard like He commands me. Colossians 3:23 "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart." If I view my job as a way to glorify God in the way I work then that in itself is a ministry field and I have a new way to show my coworkers a bit of what Christ looks like.
So, to wrap it all up... I sucked at my job, now I don't. And all the praise goes to God. He's worked so much in my heart just in my work place over the past 2 1/2 weeks. I actually enjoy going to work now and I think today I might have actually been looking forward to getting to work? Crazy right?
This time last week if you would have asked me about my job, I would have said I hated it, wanted to quit, I didn't feel comfortable there, and that I sucked at everything I did. Today, I can honestly say that I have made friends who I can talk to and joke around with while working, I enjoy my job, and that I do a pretty decent job at what I do.
I'm finally worthy of a minimum wage job!!!!!
It's kind of fun.
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