After a year at the University of North Alabama (UNA), my financial situation demanded that I look at other options. I had been at Love's Convenience for a couple of years and was making $5.00 an hour. This was as much as the job would pay. It was noble work, but not something I wanted to do for the rest of my life. There was a "club" next door called "Rockin' Raymond". On Friday and Saturday nights there was a steady stream of folks that came into the store. Occasionally they bought something, but most of the time they just wanted to use the bathroom. When the store closed at 11:00 p.m., cleaning the bathrooms was the last thing done. I scheduled myself to work on those nights to spare my employees this task!
I was thoroughly enjoying preaching for Chapel Hill Church of Christ, but I was ready to move on from the gas station. He was a regular customer. We enjoyed polite conversation and even loved to joke around a bit. I didn't know his name or what he did for a living. He came into the store one day with a tape measure hooked on his belt. "Do you have any pull where you work?" I asked. "A little", he replied, "I know the owner pretty good." A couple of weeks later he came into the station. "Are you still looking for a new job?" he asked. "Yes," I answered, "Did you talk to your boss?" He then explained that he WAS the boss! He was David Allen and he owns Allen's Air Conditioning, Inc. in Tuscumbia, AL. This began a 22 year career and a life-long friendship.
You never know who God is going to send your way. If you want to be ready to connect with those folks, you have to be friendly. If you do this, there is a chance that you can make a life-long friend. Solomon put it this way in Proverbs 18:24 "A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother."
I was thoroughly enjoying preaching for Chapel Hill Church of Christ, but I was ready to move on from the gas station. He was a regular customer. We enjoyed polite conversation and even loved to joke around a bit. I didn't know his name or what he did for a living. He came into the store one day with a tape measure hooked on his belt. "Do you have any pull where you work?" I asked. "A little", he replied, "I know the owner pretty good." A couple of weeks later he came into the station. "Are you still looking for a new job?" he asked. "Yes," I answered, "Did you talk to your boss?" He then explained that he WAS the boss! He was David Allen and he owns Allen's Air Conditioning, Inc. in Tuscumbia, AL. This began a 22 year career and a life-long friendship.
You never know who God is going to send your way. If you want to be ready to connect with those folks, you have to be friendly. If you do this, there is a chance that you can make a life-long friend. Solomon put it this way in Proverbs 18:24 "A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother."