Being A Good Waiter

    I was telling Hatch this morning a story about when I used to manage a Burger King in the 1980s. It was the semester after Bible College and before I enrolled in Southeastern Louisiana University. 

    Our oldest son Ryan was an infant and I was working to save money to go back to school. A friend of the family offered me a job at Burger King as an assistant manager so I took it. 

   It was long hours and very little pay but it had a few cool fringe benefits, like free meals during your shift. We usually worked 50 to 60 hours a week which translated to five or six days per week with 10-12 hours each day. So that meant that I would usually eat two or three meals each day while I was working.

    For breakfast I would always have a sausage, egg and cheese croissant. For lunch I would go with a classic chicken sandwich and add lettuce, tomatoes and heavy mayo. Although I did not enjoy managing a restaurant, Burger King did teach me some great principles about team building and leadership that I still use today. I stayed at Burger King for less than a year and then re-enrolled in college in pursuit of full-time ministry. The opportunity to be a full-time pastor was still years away but I did not know it at the time. I was in a hurry to get into ministry but God was teaching me to wait. We learn so much in the process of waiting that we may not even appreciate it until after the waiting is done. 

    My opportunity for pastoral ministry came in 1991, which was five years after my restaurant experience. I did not appreciate it at the time but God was doing some great things in me while I was busy serving others fast food. 

 

Never underestimate what God is doing when he is teaching you to wait.

 

Hatch is waiting for me to fill his water bowl so I’ll have to go for an hour. I’m thinking about having a classic chicken sandwich for lunch. Celebrate the good old days.