Couraging

[Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.] Colossians 3:23-24

Rich called me into his office this morning as soon as I got to work.  The terrible grinding noise I was hearing from my brakes were because the brakes were shot.  And the wiggle in the seat is from a cracked bracket, which will cost $700 to replace if the garage can't salvage one from somewhere.  I didn't have to be present to know what Rich's conversation with the mechanic went like.  "Why is my car a thousand-dollars-worth of broken?" "Well, your driver must treat it like garbage."  I still have a job, for which I have been thanking the Lord all day.  But it's tough.  I can't prove that I'm a good driver; only avoid proving otherwise.  And if something on the car randomly breaks again, I don't know what will happen.  There's nothing I can say besides "I am not careless with your possessions," for which there appears to be strong evidence to the contrary.
God is my justifier in all things.  In big things, and in little things.  The girl at the Safeway today ignored me for six minutes while watching a guy fill out his employment application, and then treated me like I was a problem customer.  It was eerily like your dream, actually.  I want to list Rich as a personal reference, and "Jeremy did not treat my car with respect," is not a glowing testimony.  But Rich does not bear the responsibility for securing me a new job.  Fortunately, neither do I.  It is from the Lord that my provision comes.

I applied for a job that I would really like this afternoon.  Craigslist statistics suggest that they will receive over fifty responses.  I am glad that my hope is not in the world.  It's the only reason why people can ask me how I'm doing on a day like today, and I can say "really well," with honesty.

- J