Part I: Working at a Gas Station

If you work full-time, a lot of what you do in your life and a lot of important things that happen could be at your job. It really uses up time and you may not have a lot of time left over. This article covers things I have done and some things that happened to me while I was working at a gas station. I had to accept that my job was a big part of my life. I expect God has put a lot of similar things on all our plates. Well, I am learning to eat, like this sermon says.

Let me know if you have something to add. There are going to be more parts after this.

• Don’t go in and out of your car while you’re filling up. (video)
• Going to work was very hard for me some days for personal reasons.
• At the start of the job, I didn’t know how to do a lot of basic stuff. It took about a month before the other cashiers left me by myself at the register and I could confidently count down my drawer.
• When you follow someone like a boss in doing these things, it’s awkward, tiring, and hard to react well. But it’s good for me to learn to follow.
• Still I had a lot of leeway in my job—when I recognized it. The thing was, after I learned the basics, something funny happened.
• Through the months, I came up with handfuls and handfuls of rules. I wanted to make my work the best, find the best ways of doing things. I tried to find the right set of rules and follow every rule. When to mop, how long of a break to take… what else could I add to the daily must-dos? It helped me know what to do when and that I was doing a better job than the other cashiers.
• Then slowly I realized that wasn’t really true. I was focused on cleaning. But the other cashiers were better at cooking up the right hot foods at the right times, so customers could just come in, grab something, and go. And cleaning was important too because we’re in a pandemic. But when the people coming in also had to eat, pandemic or not, people can’t eat hand sanitizer.
• I did not know what was really important about my job at the start, and I forgot sometimes. What was important was to interact with others and worship God. To give thanks while mopping and see other people as people. But what was most important was God interacting with me, between others and me and just with them. On the bad days to be given grace. He was living with me and allowing me to just basically live and believe in the resurrection.
• I realized it was better not to work by just rules. God is alive.

I hope these reflections are practical but also help you to believe, as the other writers here have helped me to believe. In that sense, this Part 1 is about legalism.

We who believe are not better than others because we know more of God’s ways or are more practiced in them. We are sons and daughters of God by the will of God, because we believe on the name of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, the Savior of the world.