One current delight in my life is my newly acquired job at Mardel. Even during the interview, I sensed that I would greatly enjoy being on staff at such a company, and so far this has proven to be true. The environment is unique from most business places, because get this: employees are allowed-even encouraged-to pray with and/or for customers. Before I was hired, I knew Mardel was a 'Christian' company, but I didn't know exactly how their environment strived to show that or how their business practices distinguished as so. When I heard about this aspect of the store, I was momentarily (delightfully) surprised! How beautiful that a company not only claims Christianity by name, but it also strives to show faith and experience God in word and deed. In addition, worship music plays throughout the store daily (bonus!), every other staff member is genuinely friendly (blessings!), and the company and managers encourage staff to put humanity before sales tactics, so that we are caring about the heart and soul of a person rather than the logistics of the sales. In other words, the moral needs of a human being go before the financial desires of a company, because as Christians, we claim to trust God and love people, and we will strive to show it in every aspect.
Spread that love and shout those amens.
I'm blessed to be working with great people in such a wonderful environment. I'm overwhelmed by how intriguing my classes are and surprised by how fun reading my textbooks have been. Every day there are moments of entering into the glorious goodness of God.
Then there is the imperfect, because we live in a messy world.
I've summited to the top of the mountain, but I slip on a rock every now and then. Some days, it rains a little bit. In the future, I know thunderstorms will come. Life consists of the gross and the glorious.
I've landed the ideal 'Lauren as a college student' job. I'm surrounded by books and people who love Jesus (glorious). At night, I am required to mop every floor tile in the store (gross).
My favorite class right now is 'Understanding Cultures for Global Service', and it's basically a cultural anthropology course from a faith-based perspective (glorious). My textbook cost more than I care to reminisce on (gross).
The majority of the students at my school are Jesus-loving hippies (representing those four-year liberal arts degrees) with a heart for God and the world (glorious). Then there are the guys sitting behind me in chapel who won't stop talking and mocking every professor or speaker that walks onto stage (gross)-and God reminded me to give grace because grace has been freely given to all of us.
I'm finished with classes before four every day (glorious), but I have an 8:00 a.m. class every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (gross).
Some days I will wake up ready to sing the Lord's song while other days I'd rather become a bear and hibernate beneath my covers until next Spring.
Here's the truth my soul needs a reminder of, lovelies: my flesh is weak. This world is broken. Our God is consistent. He is with us always.
We aren't going to be perfect, and we can't remain on top of the mountain forever. Our journey is made up of valleys, lakes, rivers, and so much else. We can't brave it alone-we aren't made to do it alone. We can, however, hike through life following the Ultimate Trek Guide. He is with us-and His love never fails.
