woolies, civic and the lives of many
After a very trying 5 months stacking shelves at a supermarket called Woolworths, I have been very grateful to God for providing me with a job I enjoy MUCH more – at Civic Video. It’s a video shop (which incidentally, doesn’t stock VHS videos anymore, as such) which rents out DVDs and console games. It’s so much more fun working in retail where you get the opportunity to chat with customers (or chat up customers, tee hee) and watch videos for free! At Woolies, I used to get scolded like a child for chatting with my shelf-stacking partner Junior (little, bald Filipino man about half my size) and made to work at different sides of the aisle by my evil boss. I literally hated that job and it was a huge challenge to me to ‘work as unto the Lord’. As I must have mentioned awhile back, I made good friends at Woolworths (as one does when being put through crap – a bit like being in the army). Junior was one of them, and so was Lui, my Samoan friend who likes to watch ‘Wugby’. I still have good chats with them when I go back shopping at Woolies, and although I’m happy to be working 100m down the road at Civic, I still feel sorry for them – they are both working full time to support their families. 40 hours a week of shelf stacking – man, I think I’d die!
Anyways, on to Civic Video. I wasn’t sure what kind of relationships I would build up whilst working there. Not surprisingly, however (as it often is with God), I’ve had interesting friendships with my colleagues and one or two customers where I’ve been able to talk about Jesus and show love to them in tangible ways. I’ve also realized that, as a Christian, my speech and actions are always being monitored by those around me.
People comment on the videos I take out, they ask about my thoughts on pornography and some have come to trust me enough to ask my opinion on relationships. I’ve had great conversations about Jesus with an atheist colleague and lent a fiver to a customer who didn’t have enough cash cos he had chicken pox and wasn’t able to work so he couldn’t pay for his videos. I’ve even seen customer families break up and how subsequently, the parents come in separately, I’ve seen customers lose their jobs and encouraged fathers to return their videos on time so they could have more money to spend on their families instead of having to pay fines… Man, in 6 months of working at Civic, I’ve had such a privilege to be involved in the lives of so many around Northcote.
My prayer is that I will truly exude the fragrance of Jesus to these people around me. And however I make them feel – whether encouraged, challenged or even uncomfortable, may it point them to the giver of true life, and of true rest. Where DVDs are often seen as an escape from reality, may Jesus reveal True Reality to them, and maybe even through me.
Please pray for me, that my witness will be true and genuine, and that God will guard my thoughts and my heart as I struggle with self-control, laziness and purity (aka. the well-stocked adult DVD section).
p.s. Thanks heaps, April and Lois for your encouraging tags - you've encouraged me to continue blogging!
Anyways, on to Civic Video. I wasn’t sure what kind of relationships I would build up whilst working there. Not surprisingly, however (as it often is with God), I’ve had interesting friendships with my colleagues and one or two customers where I’ve been able to talk about Jesus and show love to them in tangible ways. I’ve also realized that, as a Christian, my speech and actions are always being monitored by those around me.
People comment on the videos I take out, they ask about my thoughts on pornography and some have come to trust me enough to ask my opinion on relationships. I’ve had great conversations about Jesus with an atheist colleague and lent a fiver to a customer who didn’t have enough cash cos he had chicken pox and wasn’t able to work so he couldn’t pay for his videos. I’ve even seen customer families break up and how subsequently, the parents come in separately, I’ve seen customers lose their jobs and encouraged fathers to return their videos on time so they could have more money to spend on their families instead of having to pay fines… Man, in 6 months of working at Civic, I’ve had such a privilege to be involved in the lives of so many around Northcote.
My prayer is that I will truly exude the fragrance of Jesus to these people around me. And however I make them feel – whether encouraged, challenged or even uncomfortable, may it point them to the giver of true life, and of true rest. Where DVDs are often seen as an escape from reality, may Jesus reveal True Reality to them, and maybe even through me.
Please pray for me, that my witness will be true and genuine, and that God will guard my thoughts and my heart as I struggle with self-control, laziness and purity (aka. the well-stocked adult DVD section).
p.s. Thanks heaps, April and Lois for your encouraging tags - you've encouraged me to continue blogging!
posted by elliot at 10:22 AM
2 Comments:
haha glad it helped. in fact, i feel encouraged as i read this post-- in sharing about your experiences, you remind us that Christ abiding with us makes a difference in our relationships. I found working to be particularly challenging because of the relationships-- seeing new people everyday, working with difficult people (and task-oriented bosses heh).. wanted so desperately to know that I could, as you say, point people to the truth and life that is in Jesus. Will rmb you and family in prayers (: take care and keep reflecting! love to Kate btw, haven't had chance to talk for awhile :)
Wow Elliot, that's cool. It's a hard thing aye, I worked in a supermarket for a while, and it's really difficult to show God's love to people in situations like that. Glad you got a new job... But kudos for being awesome.
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