Keep the Change

Alright. I know all of you webizens have heard countless rants about poor tippers, why you should tip, how little the restaurant business pays, etc. I know it. I hate them, too, but I want to offer a waiter's soapbox from a different perspective.

First of all, I want to note two trends. This may just be me, but hey.

People who pay in cash tend to tip by rounding up to the nearest currency increment (if it's only a buck or two, to the 5 above it) and saying, "keep the change", or just leaving before the waiter can return with the change.

People who pay with a gift card, if the entire tab is on the card, will either tip well in cash or on the card, but if there is a remainder, will usually only tip according to the remainder.

Both of those irritate me. To you credit/debit card patrons who do the math and usually tip well, congratulations and thank you.

Rant over.

Okay, but what's so important about the tip anyways, if you're not going to rant about income?

One thing (two, if you call yourself a Christian - it's one of the best ways to exemplify Christianity to the very secular world of waitroning).

Most restaurants want the best servers and will usually reward the best servers with more shifts and larger floor sections (basically, more chances to earn tips, squared).

How do they do this? By tracking two sets of numbers.

The first goes by a different name depending on your restaurant (mine calls it a GHI (gracious hospitality index)). This number is the average amount spent by one of your patrons. It's basically a measure of how well you can sell the expensive stuff. Can you coax someone from a coke and a burger to a handcrafted strawberry lemonade and a prime burger? If you can, this number will be high.

So, on a side note, please be patient when we suggest some of the more expensive menu items. We're not just trying to jack up the bill (though that is the easiest way to get a higher tip, usually).

The second is the average tip percentage. Pretty self-explanatory. It usually is a decent indicator of how well you can get the patron to like you/how good you are at serving.

What happens, then, is the boss looks at the numbers in comparison to the others and basically decides, "Okay, Jim has the 3rd highest GHI. Let's give him 6 tables tonight. Well, make that 5, since his tips are hanging around 14%. Now Jill, her GHI's not the best, but her tips, 21%! She's good. I'll give her 7 tables. She's capable enough to handle it."

Now, yes, the manager usually knows the waiters by more than name and numbers, but GHI and % are reliable indicators of a server's ability to sell and wow.

So, I ask you, not on the platform of wanting more money lining our pockets, but on the platform of wanting more chances to try to line our pockets, please treat us [your waiters] well*.

Oh, and if you're ever passing through Lynchburg, VA, take a moment to pop in and visit Ruby Tuesday. Who knows, I might be your server.

*(I'd recommend 18-20% as a guideline for standard, considering today's economy and most restaurants' goals)

That one thing...

You know that experience when you're planning everything out and it all looks good on paper; then, one thing - only one thing - doesn't quite work out the way you'd planned?

Welcome to the club.

My summer plans had 3 prongs to it:

• get a job, 
• find an apartment, 
• volunteer at the local hospital. 

Pretty simple. All 3 came together before the semester ended. Great.

So everything worked out, right?

Yes. For the most part.

• I have a job
• I have an apartment
• I'm now fully set up to volunteer at the hospital

So, what's the hitch?

Well, I took a week off after the semester ended, which happened to coincide with the middle of my work training. Now, you might say that's stupid, but it's not - I had to be off campus by a certain date, which was a little less than a week before I could move into my apartment.

So I told my bosses. They knew and accepted it, said I could finish training when I returned, which I did. Now, here's the hitch: The shift manager is heading on her vacation, so she wisely decided to plan the next few weeks, a very prudent, understandable move. When she was planning them just happened to coincide with the week I was away, halfway through training.

The result: I'm not officially scheduled for the next week/2 weeks. Oh, I can pick up shifts, but right now, I'm only a host and, for those of you who aren't familiar with restaurant staffing, there's only 1, maybe 2 hosts in a shift.

That means there are already few shifts available and fewer people who're likely to drop a shift.

So that's my life right now. I'm paying rent, gas, and food; I'm busy volunteering, preparing for med school; and I'm employed, but have no work. Please be praying that I could pick up a few shifts.

Prayer for Boston

God,

I know You know what has happened recently throughout the world, but I want to pray on behalf of one particular event. I cannot fathom what happened yesterday. It doesn't make sense to me. Why would somebody/-ies try to kill a large number of innocents? I don't know, but I know that You, God, are sovereign and that, like with Joseph, the Israelites in Egypt, and the persecutions of the church, You will ultimately bring good from this evil of man's doing.

Lord, I want to pray first for the victims still living. I thank You that they are still alive. I ask that You would heal them. I ask that You would reach into their lives and bring not only physical healing, but spiritual healing, too. I ask that You would show them your grace, mercy, and love; that You would move them to be able to forgive their attackers.

Next, Lord, I pray for the doctors working furiously to save those in critical condition. I know many have been lost, but I ask, for those still living, that You would give the doctors wisdom and discernment, that they would be able to clearly assess the trauma and treat it.

God, I pray for the victims' families. I cannot imagine the pain of families grieving lost ones or dealing with the coarse adjustment of disability, surgery, or even indefinite hospitalization. I ask that you would provide for these families. I ask that not only would their physical and monetary needs be met, but that You would gather to them those able to meet their emotional and spiritual needs, God. I ask that any bitterness and resentment be replaced with grace and forgiveness and that, through this trauma, You would bring these families to you and ultimately to salvation.

I pray for the law enforcement. I ask that You would reveal the clues leading to the identities and whereabouts of the culprits. I ask that You would protect them in their search and that, ultimately, true, fair justice may be administered.

Lastly, Lord, I pray for the priests, ministers, deacons, and pastors of Boston. I ask that You would move their hearts to compassion, that they would mobilize their congregations to show Your love to the victims and their families. I ask that their hearts would be open to Your urgings and that they would take the opportunity to speak Your truth to the city in a loving, merciful manner. I ask that they might exemplify Your grace and shine Your light into the community such that people are drawn to You, like moths to a flame.

Lord, I ask that You would receive all glory and honour in the aftermath of this disaster and that many would see You truly for the first time and come before You, bowing their knees.

I ask all of this in Your name.

Amen

The Gay Dilemma

Alright. While I detest bandwagons and decry Facebook movements as ineffectual and inane, I think it's time to weigh in on the issue at hand.

On marriage: I hold to the Biblical model of marriage: one man & one woman. for those of you willing to point out that homosexuality, bestiality, and polygamy are all mentioned in the Bible, I must point out that such actions have consequences, which are also mentioned in the Bible.

On homosexuality: Yes, I think it's wrong, sinful, and a perversion, but I'm not going to shove it in your face. I'm not going to use slurs and insults or make jokes. Some of my past, high school teachers are gay. Being gay does not make someone less of a person in my eyes, rather, they hold the same status to me as do all others and, like all others, they've made a wrong choice.


Jesus came and met with liars, adulterers, murderers, drunkards, extortionists, and more. He showed them love and compassion, true, as should I, but he also spoke out against their sin. Similarly, as a follower of Christ, I am called to love, but also to speak out against sin.


Speaking out against sin doesn't mean preaching hellfire and damnation. Rather, Paul exhorts Christians to grow in maturity, "speaking the truth in love." (Eph. 4:15)


So, consider this my ultimatum: I uphold the biblical model of marriage and disapprove of homosexuality, but I will not allow my views on homosexuality to infringe upon the manner with which I engage with individuals who are gay, pro-gay, or anti-gay.


End. Of. Story.

Difficult Battlefields

I had an encouraging conversation with a friend today. What made it encouraging? Well, we were conversing about ministry in the future.

You see, he's a Pastoral Leadership student from an affluent, upper-class background who wants to minister specifically to upper-class individuals in "post-Christian" nations.

You can stop staring at the screen like I'm crazy.

"But isn't he supposed to forsake all riches and go dig sewage ditches in India for Jesus?"

Only if God calls him to, which, as much as was apparent, He hadn't.

Now, as for why I'm encouraged: compared to reaching affluent individuals, particularly of my generation, in developed countries, evangelizing to the poor, impoverished, and malnourished is almost like comparing a multiplication quiz to integral calculus.

Now, I'm not saying we shouldn't minister to the poor, because we should. We're called to do so  as Christians. What I'm saying is that it's a completely different ballgame and here are a few reasons why:

• The needs to be met are often not physical and not apparent, hidden by many layers
• You need to discern and address the individual's philosophy
• You need to be able to think on your feet - there are many stock arguments used to tie up Christians in logical fallacies
• You need to be able to refute the most recent pop philosophy, atheist argument, or evolutionary discovery
• You need to be able to stand your own in both a formal and an informal debate
• You need to be able to conduct yourself and converse at the appropriate level (the upper crust can be very particular about its ways, many of which don't quite fit with Christianity, but anyone trying to spread the Gospel must be aware of and fluent in these nuances)
• Having successfully shown yourself as a well-educated member of society, you may have been allowed a step closer into confidence - don't mess up now.
• Is there any resistance to religion/Christianity? Subtly address it without religious arguments

Finally, after going through all of these hoops, and more, after having refuted and addressed their intellectual strongholds and beliefs, once you have cleared away the dross, then you may begin to use the Bible.

As you can see, it takes a very unique individual to reach the higher strata of society, strata which are comprising a larger and larger percentage of the Western world while becoming more and more areligious. 

So, yes, I'm encouraged. I'm encouraged because I see that God has called and equipped him to a difficult battlefield, a battlefield more mental than physical.

Fast Dieting

So, with Lent around the corner (it starts on Wed.), I figured I'd talk about something I have done that I want to encourage all of you to avoid - dieting over Lent.

Let me explain myself. Lent is a period of time before Easter during which celebrants abstain from a particular something and, instead, spend the time in prayer; this is also called fasting. Most commonly, people choose to abstain from some sort of foodstuff they particularly enjoy.

There's a fine line between fasting from certain foods and dieting.

Last year, I chose to fast from desserts as a whole. For me, that was something I enjoyed and spent too much time and thought over - a perfect choice for a fast. Now, here's the kicker: I never actually fasted. I merely dieted.

So, yes, I abstained from all desserts during Lent, but what I didn't do was redeem that time otherwise spent eating or craving dessert in prayer, devouring the Word of God and desiring Him. My fast had become a diet.

This, I think, is one of the biggest dangers a faster faces and in the face of this, I want to encourage you to spend Lent fasting, but properly so. Give something up for these next 40 days, but also remember to be praying and seeking God throughout the whole time. In fact, set goals to fast about during this time, while you're at it.

Footnote: I think it's fine to turn a diet into a fast. You're already giving something up, now you're just redeeming it to draw closer to God. Turning a fast into a diet, however, I think is a big mistake, as outlined above.

My Conversion Story

So, I had to write this up for my Theology class (It was due this morning) and I figured, "Why not publish it to the world at large?"

"Looking back, the last 14 years have been largely impacted by a single event. Had this event not happened or merely happened at a later date, I would be a very different person with unknowable different experiences. This event, of course, was my decision to accept Jesus as the payment for my sin and my lord.

The details, some 14 years old, are somewhat hazy, but I remember having grown up a pastor's kid at a decently-sized country church outside of Richmond, VA. I knew all the Sunday School stories and answers, but, increasingly, I was becoming aware that there was something more than  a picture Bible and itchy sweaters.

All of this culminated during the summer of '98. I remember going to our church's VBS, being excited because of the space theme and looking forward to Mrs. Pope's desserts. little was I to know that on that day, my teacher would hit the nail on the head. She was teaching on Jesus' Sacrifice & payment for our sins - the culmination of the week's lessons. To this day I do not know what moved me to mark the back of the card, but I have a fairly good guess it was the Holy Spirit.

A few days later, my dad, having been told by my teacher, sat me down and explained in detail what it meant to be a Christian. Not long after that, I remember praying through the ABC's of salvation in an earnest 8-year-old's prayer, acknowledging my sin, committing my life to Christ, and knowing full well what that meant."