Noticed a frustrated teenage waiter..
I know this guy don't I?
He's from that local restaurant, and is normally very humorous and chipper ..but now what's with all the slumpin' low in the saddle if you will?
Sup?
"I hate my job!!!"
But Andy, man you've got to be pretty good at waiting tables to have kept that job for as long as you have!
"Hate it.. the management is so bad and so many customers just don't leave tips though I do a good job for them."
Yikes; really sorry 'bout that!
You want me to pray that you can find another job huh?
"I ..guess"
So how exactly are they so "bad"—we all can be bad at times?
"They're so unfair.. with scheduling etc—just very inconsistent and unfair ..and they always ignore my requests! I no longer feel any respect for em at all."
You know that Jesus really cares about you and what you do—He can help you with all that work-junk too.
I did pray for Andy and..
Andy now works at another restaurant that he likes much better.
It can be frustrating for any of us when an employer doesn't act like he should.. or when an employee doesn't.
Don't know all the facts.. but thanks Lord for working in Andy's life so that he can see how practical serving you is.. how real You are and hopefully.. that he'll soon come to trust and know you in a personal way!
God has given us quite a few interesting and friendly neighbors to befriend…
It's been cool to visit in some of their homes and also take in and share some local experiences with them. I haven't always done such a great job in reaching out to them and have blamed this on being "too busy." Such a lame excuse.. I hate that.
Wanna do better.
Moslems in front of us (they come over and like to talk about gardening with me when I have dirt on my hands), there's two homes with gay couples to the left of us (one of these couples has always felt free to give us tips on disciplining our wild kids and to their surprise we have agreed with them at times when there was a violation), there's a large multi-generational Buddhist Vietnamese family to the right of us.
Their boys where pretty much the age that ours were so we do have something in common.
Three generations of caring people are living in the Vietnamese home, and since they don't have enough space for a couple of their cars, they like to park em in our drive way ..blocking our garage doors.
We had this parking type of thing happen with our home in Germany before too. No biggy at all really. This was what got us talking together.
Bang, bang, bang!
I had to go talk with their dad the other day about his sharp hunting skills.
Oh yes!
Daily Liney and I were wondering what that bang bang shooting sounds were all about.. until we discovered some squirrels, doves, and blue jays.. all dead laying in our yard.
You see, they have a very large vegetable garden behind their Feng Shui decorated abode, and all the local wild life around here seems to like what their garden produces, so the animals give em reason to practice their aim. Yes, the Huang family is a friendly clan, and they basically enjoy defending all the fruits of their labors ..in a militaristic fashion.
Action! Aim; bang!
And what hunter in Tejas doesn't need target practice? But we didn't want Roxy (our Jack Russell "Terror" of a hound) to get hit by a stray bullet.. nor did we want any of the other flying animals to get hit, that like to nest around here. I'm no tree-hugger, but I like animals. .
Glad there were no gun shots heard any more today or yesterday!
But do please pray for the Huang family.
Moann Chi, their two year old Buddhist temple guard of a dog... also just died.
No ..Moann Chi wasn't shot by his owners. Man, that would really be more horrible huh. The dog was simply found to be with a melanoma lump (cancer) and this disease just took over and then took their beloved dog out.
That kind of thing can be very traumatic and crushing for anyone.
As you can imagine, our dear Vietnamese neighbors are deeply saddened right now as they mourn the passing of Moann Chi this week.
Lots and lots of tears.. as perhaps you too have experienced at some point. They cry especially when they take a glance at our lively pooch. Liney and I feel for them and we will continue to lift em up.
That shrine by their front door with all the fruit and red banners with gold fringe just doesn't seem to be blocking all the acute pain that they feel.
Hurting people on my street. And what comes to my mind when I think about those on my block? I'll tell you. I think of Christ and all that He did for similar people back in the day. Here's what I was just reading: "He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified" (Isa 61:1-3, nkjv).
Perhaps you too could use some prayer during this time of year, some answers, a job ..some beauty for your ashes, some oil of JOY for those dark feelings of mourning, a cool garment of celebratory praise for a spirit of gloomy heaviness that you can't seem to shake or ditch from inside your gut?
Jesus Christ is waiting to hear it all—the nitty gritty gory details—you're your heart to His—you know He knows it all anyways and that He can also intervene!
