You are currently browsing the monthly archive for February 2007.
hello to all diners out there. i’d like to take a moment to give a suggestion to those of you who like to go out to eat…especially if you’re a christian. most of us as christians, would like for others to experience the joy that comes from knowing jesus, right? that’s just how it is. it’s good stuff. so when you go out to eat, bow your head to say a blessing, but proceed to be rude or even just ignore your server, and then tip like crap…do you have any idea how this affects peoples’ lives? well, i do now, and it’s not good. there’s not much of a chance they’re going to want to know that jesus of yours if he makes you act that way. another scenario…a server sees a table say a blessing, they’re all sweet and nice the whole time but then they tip you oh about 5-6%…same thing. if you can’t afford to tip your server at least 15-20%, you shouldn’t be going out to eat.
the other day, one of my friends at work (who kind of has a hard time with the whole church thing) was waiting on a table. the bill was around $70something dollars. now a great tip on that would have been $15…considering you’re already spending out the wazoo for lunch, tipping your server who does an excellent job, is not going to cost you that much more in comparison to what you’re already spending. anyway, these nice people tipped my friend $3 along with a small silver plastic cross that says “jesus saves.” nice…very nice. the same server also waited on a pastor that day, who was a total jerk while ordering and just generally communicating. so you probably get my point. i’m sure they all meant well, but that wasn’t the best way to go about it.
now in general, just be a good tipper, ok? whether you’re a christian or not, treat people well. who are we to determine how much someone makes if they are working hard and doing their job? ok, they may not be mrs. or mr. personality, but are they working? then they deserve to get paid. you may have a different view, but most servers are making a whopping $2-$3 an hour and counting on tips to pay their bills. so hey…while you’re at it…why not make it 25-30% or more and just bless someone really big next time?
a cool thing happened to me today. i was working behind the counter and met a guy who is a filmmaker. it was so funny b/c i had been reading in the ‘nashville scene’. did you know nashville has a film festival? well, they do. and it’s in april. i’ve really been interested in film basically the last half of my life but have never thought about actually pursuing anything. this is one of those decisions i was talking about in the previous blog. a step i can take. and a film festival right in my city is a great place to start. anyway, the guy overheard me talking to lauren about the festival. he’s actually had films in it. so i started asking him lots of questions. and now i have his contact info. he used to teach at watkins and is going to email me a bunch of info he used for teaching. he also told me i could come sit in on a music video they’re filming in a couple of weeks. way cool man!! talking to him also helped me to see how unnecessary it would be to go to school for such an endeavor. thank you, jesus, for that…
what do you do when you can make any decision and go anywhere to do anything? i’ll tell you what can happen…you can go absolutely crazy! wondering is this the best thing to do…oh wait, what about this…it could be better. it’s too much of a decision for me to make myself. and i’m glad i realized this, b/c i’ve been really stressed out about it. going back and forth, changing my mind, coming up with new ideas. it’s endless. but the most important aspect of all of this is jesus. i knew that, but i’ve been kind of ignoring the fact that he could really help me. i’ve actually been treating him more as an advisor that could fill me in on what he thinks…but i’ll just make the decision myself, etc… he’s great b/c he stays there and waits. this has been such a burden on me, and he said it’s not my burden to carry. so first of all, i’m taking a vacation from it all and not thinking about it for an entire week (at the least.) i mean seriously…if the thought enters, i’m making it leave. then i’m just going to focus on jesus. why is it so hard to let it go and just trust him? but he seriously knows better than i do what the best decision for my life is. i don’t trust anyone else with this. but gee whiz…he’s kind of smart and ‘all-knowing’ and stuff. so the most important thing to do is not to seek the answer…just seek after him. all the other stuff will fall into its proper place.
sometimes i think about how many different worlds are going on around me at one time…especially at work. most of the time i’m thinking all about myself, of course, and my little world. what i need to do, what am i saying, what i’m happy or irritated about, singing a song out loud or in my head, etc… and then someone i work with walks around the corner singing out loud their own song. doesn’t really matter what it is. but it’s so funny how someone else has something totally different going on in their head. and then you look around at each table especially when the restaurant is full. it’s a bunch of little worlds. why are these people here? who are they and where are they from? what are their homes like? what are they talking about and why? i play such a small part in their world…i’m their waitress. i think about servers that i’ve had and then i also wonder about their lives and the little worlds going on in their restaurants. it cracks me up to be ‘behind the scenes’ there. most of the time it has nothing to do with the customers unless it has to. you’ll be fixing drinks but talking about something totally random. you start a story about your life, get interrupted, have to split and then come back 7 minutes later, picking right back up where you left off. anyway, i never thought about this much until now. it makes me laugh!
some people are just so generous…and this week that includes parents of my friends. saturday was my friend, sandy’s, birthday. her parents came down from indiana and took some of us out to dinner at a wonderful place in brentwood called mere bulles. yes, truly excellent. i had crab bisque, grilled trout and shared some of sandy’s chocolate birthday cake. and tonight…my friend, christi, invited me to dinner with her parents who came up from birmingham to take us out. we went to another extraordinary place called bound’ry here in nashville. i had shrimp bisque, salmon, and of course could not leave out the chocolate trio dessert. they also have samplings called flights…you can try different wines at a lower price and smaller serving. you can also have food samples, but we didn’t. i had such a marvelous time. parents are the greatest. the thing is — i would probably not go to these places on my own ($$) — what a great opportunity!
ALSO…big news! one of my best best friends, kristina, had her baby yesterday! his name is jeremiah, and i can hardly wait to meet him. during her pregnancy, it has been so funny how everytime i see her or here lately even when i’ve talked about her having a baby, it makes me cry! good tears not bad. i don’t know exactly why…i just have so much joy and love for her and her new family. i will post a picture of him as soon as possible. i’m going to see him soon.
have you ever just been sick of everything? sick of life? your job? your computer that keeps messing up? some people? paying stupid bills? trying to get out of debt? wanting to lose weight but not wanting to exercise? your hands being dry b/c it’s winter? i might need to stop b/c i could go on. it’s just been a really lousy couple of days with the most stupid stuff happening…i mean it’s ridiculous. i feel bad even griping b/c i have a good life. it’s one of those moments. it will pass. i don’t know what i want to do or where i’m really supposed to be, and that’s been hard. it’s been a true example of – ‘without vision the people perish.’ i see vision as hope…in something…that involves you personally. where will your life lead? what will you do on this earth? why the heck are you here? i’ve just been asking God for vision. really b/c he’s the only one that can give that to me. he’s the one who knows that stuff, so i’m just waiting. waiting on what? what am i waiting for? um…i guess waiting to not be scared to do the thing i want to do. waiting until i get just about crazy insane staying where i am. nice.
ok, well…i have to post more pictures b/c sunday i went outside clueless that it had snowed AGAIN! it wasn’t very much, but i don’t care…it’s snow.
in front of my apartments – that’s lauren coming to pick me up
christi and me in front of her place
super bowl party at christi’s!!
would you be sad if you had to play scrabble with these letters? yea, this was mine…i didn’t win.
it SNOWED! they really talked it up yesterday, and i was a bit sad (just some) to see that it didn’t. when i woke up this morning, i certainly didn’t expect to see snow. my roommate asked if it had, so i looked and IT DID! here are some pics:
standing on my balcony
my little car with snow on it
i just went to weather.com to check on the snow situation and got such a kick out of this. it was on the home page…
Like a contestant on the Price is Right, arctic air is running southward through the Plains.
nice writing. it certainly brings a visual to mind.
i recently made an excellent purchase. the guy i bought my car from told me that i could buy a ’stereo to stereo’ type cord, plug one end into my car stereo and the other end into my ipod. so i went to radio shack and bought one for $5.95. i put my radio in ‘aux’ mode, turned on my ipod and OH MY GOODNESS…it works! and i didn’t have to buy an expensive hook up thing. i’m not sure i could properly express how EXCITED i am about this! mainly b/c i don’t have an antenna, and the only channel that works is 103.3 country station. my cd player skips everytime i hit a bump, so that’s basically out. this is great news.
