Well Worth the Wait

I am literally in a state of sheer and complete AWE.

Today has been one of the GREATEST days of my LIFE.

This time four years ago I was working as a banquet server at Maggianos Little Italy in Perimeter mall in Atlanta, GA and I was miserable. I was sleeping on the floor of one of my closest friend's 2 bedroom apartment in midtown and I was barely making enough money to survive day-to-day. Most of the money I was making went to food so that I didn't have to worry about my physical survival so much while I struggled in every other area of my life. I was content but I was not happy. I knew that some kind of way, life had to be better than this.

I'm a man of vision. What feeds my will to live is a hope that things can and will change for the better, if I choose to keep living. This hope has kept me going. It's kept me waking up everyday, looking for new opportunities and trying to find a way out of the struggle, out of the stress and out of the strain of an attempt to merely survive. The more I searched, the more I found. The more I found, the more I tried. The more I tried, the more I failed. And the more I failed, the more I searched. It was a vicious and emotionally draining cycle that at many points, I thought was never going to end. But I maintained a necessary amount of faith that I had in a vision for greater than the struggle I knew and had gotten so used to.

At the beginning of the year when I turned 25, I knew that the new year of my life would bring about some significant changes in and around me, but this... I did not expect. And even though almost the entire year went by before my moment came, the fact is, it came and from where I am now, it was WELL worth the wait.

When I woke up this morning, I didn't know all of what the day would have in store. I knew that it would be a fun-filled and full day; as I had spent time planning a departmental luncheon for my team at work and tonight would be the company-wide holiday party for the NYC offices but I still had no idea what the day had specifically in store for me.

Today, I received more Christmas presents than I have received in my entire adult life. Granted, the gifts are not as important as the thought that went into it but the quality of the gifts speak VOLUMES to the thoughts of who the came from and makes those thoughts tangibly audible.

Aside from the gifts, as I mentioned, today was a departmental holiday luncheon that I was blessed to bear the responsibility of planning. As I arrived to the restaurant before my team, to make sure that everything was in order and satisfactorily set up for us, I shook hands with the private events coordinator (with whom I worked to plan the event) and she introduced me to the two servers who were assigned to our party. After we ate, completed a series of toasts and did our Secret Santa gift exchange, the team verbally thanked and applauded me for the immaculate experience and INCREDIBLE food selection provided for us. They sincerely appreciated me for the work and the thought I put into making the event successful (something I am not used to - being appreciated for my work that is...). To me, that was enough; but before we got ready to leave, the manager of the restaurant came and asked for me. He wanted to shake my hand and apologize for the small mishaps that occurred throughout the event. Then they brought me the check. While looking at the check, I pulled my boss to the side and asked if it was alright to leave additional gratuity for our two servers. She willingly agreed.

I was overjoyed. I took so much pride in calling the servers to the side and showing them that we genuinely appreciated their time and attention to our needs to have a successful event. And I got emotional. I remembered when I was in their shoes, waiting tables, working private events, busting my butt to make the host and the clients happy and praying that they saw my work ethic and chose to reward me with a generous tip and often being let down with no tip at all. I remembered doing all I can to make sure that there was nothing a client needed to enhance their experience that I didn't deliver and receiving $10 on a $1400 bill. I remembered working double and triple shifts from as early as 5:30 in the morning for a breakfast meeting, followed by a lunch and then a dinner and still not making enough money to live on my own. Then to see Kris' (one of our servers) face when she saw the additional gratuity we left her and Adam... My struggle was well worth it.

And then tonight, to be at the company party around soooo many smiling faces and happy spirits with exclusivity, food, drinks, giveaways, music and more, I couldn't help but look up to my Father at different moments throughout the night just to say "Thank You." I was thanking Him for the character and integrity I learned through my struggles that qualified me to earn the responsibility I carry with my job. I was thanking Him for the trust He had put in me to walk through my process without giving up or turning my back on Him although there were MANY times where that's exactly what I wanted to do. I was thanking Him for allowing me to brush shoulders with people (and one very specific person) who I have looked up to for years and who has the job that I want in the future. And to have a conversation with him where he tells me to come by his office any time so he can show me around and introduce me to his team so I can see all of what they do and how they do it?? *sigh* #AWE

I am immensely grateful. I am humbled. I am finally living in my dream wide awake and God is responsible for making it happen.

Friends, I can care less how things around you look right now: DO NOT GIVE UP ON YOUR DREAMS. As long as you have a clear vision of the future and the life you want for yourself, write it down, submit it to God and more importantly SUBMIT YOURSELF to God and He will make it happen for you, just as He did and is doing for me. I struggled for the full first 8 years of my adult life and I had no idea that I would have to endure all that I have but from where I am today, it was well worth the wait.

Thank You Jesus.