Sometimes I get stuck in what I call tunnel vision. I wake up, live a normal day, go to sleep. Wake up, repeat. Day in, day out. Week in, week out. Month in, month out.
Am I doing any good? Am I making something of myself? Does my life matter?
I’m somewhat of a self-critical guy, so I often say, “Uh, no. At least, it doesn’t look like it.” I’m not changing the world. School is… school. My friends go through tough times and I can’t help them as much as I’d like to. Customers come to my workplace (Arby’s) unhappy and leave unhappy and I can’t do anything about it.
Tunnel vision stinks. What is the meaning of the day-to-day grind? Why am I here?
Recently during a normal day at work we were slammed by an unexpected rush. Both drive-thru and lobby were jammed with customers. I was busy taking orders from the drive-thru, making drinks, and making shakes. If my coworker manning the register was gone, I also had to take money, assemble the orders, and hand out food.
In short, I was very busy and a little stressed.
In the middle of this 45 minute period, a woman came to the speaker crying. Everyone with a drive-thru headset could hear her sobbing. We all paused, wondering if we were hearing correctly.
No matter, we had to keep moving. Order in, order out, life must go on. I quickly forget her after I send in her order*.
Then she gets to the window. My coworker was gone, so I took her money. Her face was red and she was clearly in some type of pain. She kept apologizing and I reassured her that she was fine. I handed her credit card back and she broke out crying again.
I asked her if everything was fine, and she just shook her head as she cried. I paused. I had my manager right in back of me, uh, encouraging me to keep the drive-thru time down. Her food was ready; he said she needed to go.
I asked her if I could pray for her. She nodded and said, “Please pray for me.” So I prayed for her right then and there.
Now, it was admittedly a clumsy prayer. I didn’t know what to pray for exactly. I didn’t know if it should be an upbeat prayer, or one that was more solemn. Simply, I didn’t know what to say.
So there I was in a drive-thru in the midst of a jammed dinner rush praying for a crying stranger for 15 seconds with an unhappy manager breathing down my back. It was surreal.
I handed her her food and she left. I continued with the orders and everything else. I knew I’d probably never see her again. I don’t know what she is going through. I don’t know if my prayer helped her any.
Why did I share this? Just for encouragement. I don’t know how much of an impact I have. Sometimes I don’t know what my life will amount to. I’m just a high school kid with a fast food job. I’m pretty average right now.
But knowing that God can still use me is inspiring. He put me in the right place at the right time for someone. I won’t know if what I did had any effect, but the fact that I can still do something in my pretty normal situation is encouraging.
What about you? Is the daily grind getting you down? Are you wondering what impact you are having? Just know that God has you right where He wants you, and that there will be opportunities to help others. Keep your eyes open and stay positive. If a friend is feeling down, be their bright spot. If a sibling, spouse, or child isn’t having the best day, let them know you are there for them.
You might be average like me, but you can be super average.
*A roasted turkey, ranch, and bacon wrap. It tells me something that I remembered that.
