Seeing People Differently

Hello Everyone!!
 I hope your summer has been wonderful so far as mine has! 
Well, we have ended our 3rd week here and beginning week #4!! I don't know about you but that is crazy! It feels like I have been here for only a day and then at the same time feels like months, haha. But I wanted to catch ya'll up on whats been happin' here in Chi-Town!

--This past week we have hit on our 3rd section of 1 Peter (1:13-2:3). This section of scripture says so much to believers. We are told that we are God's called existence. Through this we know that Jesus gives us our name and our reason for existence. That is amazing! He also tells us how he is our cornerstone and our foundation for life. If you really think about it, if God was not in your life would your life fall apart? or would it stay the same? This is really convicting. How much of your day do you rely on God and how would it really change if you were not a believer? This section overall reassures us of our significance in Christ. It assures us of our salvation and who and what were called to, God's Kingdom.

 **So there has been a lot of confusion with me and having a job. I only have 7 weeks left and I have been wanting to start work so bad!  I was searching like crazy to waitress somewhere in the city and then I was officially hired at Forever Yogurt (FY) (a frozen yogurt shop). After a lot of confusion with getting on the schedule and finding out it is in the Gay Community and this was Gay Pride weekend, I was already not looking forward to working there..I continued to search for a job. Although I was still searching I still went to an 11pm work meeting that they had at FY. I figured that if God wanted me to work in this community then I need to trust in His plan. Well, the meeting was terrible to say the least. I not only did not get home till 4am from cleaning the store that I had not even had my first day in, but I was also exposed to homosexuality like no other. As soon as I walked in the door I felt unwanted as the manager didn't know I was going to be there ( I mean, I am an employee right?) The district manager was, lets just say, feminine, and was somewhat rude to me. The very first thing that was said about our uniforms was that we don't need to wear crazy jewelry. He continued to say, "If you have to wear your Jesus then I guess that's okay." Everyone laughed as I looked and saw I was the only one wearing a cross on my neck. This was just one of the ways that I knew I was an Exile in that place just like Peter talked about in the Bible.
Well the night before my first day of work (Saturday) I was in pain of not wanting to go back. I was in tears with fear of what would happen the next day in that place. I literally wanted to get fired so I wouldn't have to say that I backed out. Well that night God really told me how he loves those people that hurt my feelings. That is crazy that He loves them, they are His creation. Every good thought God has about me, he has about them also. They are humans who are just like me, fallen sinners that do not know who there searching for. Yeah they make different decisions than me, and they look and dress different but if God loves them, I am called to as well, no matter how hard it is. So I asked God for strength for the next day as I could not go in there with my harden heart about that community without His strength.
--That day at work was nothing like I expected it to be. I worked with a girl that was very kind and somehow I appreciated every person that walked into the store no matter what they were dressed like or who they were holding hands with. God turned my heart to see them as people, people that He loves, just like me. I was eternally saddened that I ever thought differently about them. I think God allowed me to go through this struggle because I had a hard heart toward Gay's and homosexuals. I had a worldly view of them and did not consider God's view of them. I was tested to rely on God once again for his strength.

Even though God worked in my heart that day, more conflict came about. After I left work I called a restaurant to follow up with the manager and he told me he wants me to waitress for him. WAITRESS! THIS IS WHAT I HAVE BEEN WANTING! but is it where I need to be? I honestly do not know the answer to this question. I am training at the restaurant tomorrow. I pray God allows me to glorify him in which ever job I choose. Both places are "dark" and need a light. I know God will work in whichever one I choose.
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"Confidence about my identity is primarily rooted in understanding God's character, not mine."

"It means to live in such a way that our lives do not make since if God did not exist."

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Prayer Request:
Choosing a Job
& Events: I'm running a cookout Thursday on campus for UIC students that we have met.
Evangelism on campus this week

Specific Names of people to pray for:  Helen, Ester, Aly, Ellie, and Nikki
These are either girls on campus or ones I have met in the community that I will keep in contact with throughout the summer.

Thank you, and love you all!