faith, trust & employment.

The forecast for the next few days= rain & thunderstorms (but no lack of humidity!) Should make for an interesting day at work tomorrow....speaking of work...

Of the 94 students on project, 83 have found jobs, which is great! But that still leaves 11 students fervently seeking employment anywhere near Myrtle Beach. Please be praying that God would open up positions for these students, places where they can bring Jesus to light in the lives of co-workers. Also, please be praying that these students would stand strong in God's promise, and that they would continue to trust Him--many are becoming discouraged at this point.

I was in the same shoes up until Monday, so I can understand the beginnings of discouragement. It is easy to reflect on God's truth and faithfulness, but it is also easy to become impatient with God's timing and plan for our summers. As I continued my search for a job this past weekend, I ended up compiling a small list of verses on God's faithfulness during a quiet time. Anytime I felt like my applications or phone calls were making no difference, I flipped open my journal and read the following:

"But when I am afraid, I will put my trust in you. I praise God for what He has promised. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid?" -Psalm 56:3-4a

"My heart is confident in you, O God; my heart is confident." -Psalm 57:7

"I wait quietly before God, for my victory comes from him." -Psalm 62:1

"You faithfully answer our prayers with awesome deeds, O God our Savior." -Psalm 65:5

"We know how much god loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God IS love and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them." -1 John 4:16

As I continued to seek the Lord in choosing a place of employment for the summer, nothing really stuck out to me. It was actually a big act of obedience on my part to give up my control of the job search, patiently waiting to seek employment until arriving to North Myrtle. I decided to fervently trust the Lord, and wait to see what His plans were for me upon my arrival. I was unsure about where the Lord was leading me, and the first two days of job searching proved pretty unpromising. I continued to seek God through prayer and His Word, but I also began to be still and listen for His voice. In all of my searching, I ended up where I kind of thought I might be, but I wanted to make sure this was really where the Lord was leading me......

...and that fast-food joint is......drum roll..........McDonald's!!!!!!!! I am actually super excited to see what God is going to do and how he will use the 11 of us working at the store on Main Street (approximately 15 minutes walking time from our apartments). It is a great combination of CRU people and the local employees, with whom I am in close contact with everyday! I was "trained-in" on Monday, and began work on Tuesday and Thursday of this week. I have been given the task of the drive-thru window :) I get to read all of the orders as they pop up on the screen, make any drinks, and make sure orders are given out to the cars promptly and correctly with a "Thank You, Have a Nice Day" and a smile :) We have also been lucky enough to each receive 40-hours of work this week!! We were not sure how it would end up with so many of us working at the Main Street store, but so far everything has been great. My shift is 7am-3pm this week, though our shifts and jobs may change each week depending on what we prefer.

With all of the interactions we have had so far with the local employees, I am excited to see how our conversations and actions will affect these peoples' lives!! I have so much more respect for these workers--it is not an 'easy' job working at McDonald's (and all of us joke that we will never get angry if we are dining at a fast-food restaurant and they mess our order up!! With how fast-paced everything is and with so much going on, it is VERY possible for mix-ups to occur!) So praise the Lord for providing employment for those of us who have secured jobs, and please pray that He will be preparing us for the relationships and bonds we will begin with our co-workers, as well as softening the hearts of those we work with. God is SO good, and I am excited to see how everything will unfold in the coming weeks.

Also, pictures of myself in my snazzy uniform should be surfacing my blog soon.... :)

Love you all,
Christa

PS: We are going through the Gospel of Mark for our Bible Study, as well as a few large meeting speaker talks. If you would like to read along with me and discuss, please do so!! :)