Lessons learned at Petsmart...

Last January when I quit a full time ministry position to go back to seminary, I must confess part time retail at Petsmart was not at the top of my list for jobs.  However, shortly after I got to North Carolina, two things became my only criteria for a job…I needed hours and someone to work around my crazy school schedule.  Long story short, Petsmart met both. 

Now for those of you who knew the Peterson kids growing up you may remember that Justin and I had a wide array of animals and ironically enough we were not known for the longevity of life of our animals.  Regardless, this experience as kid helped me land my dream job.  Well maybe not dream job, but at least it pays the bills during this journey to South Asia.  Truth be told though I have learned a lot in the last year from work (some useful for future ministry and some I hope I never need again) and thought I’d share with you the top 10 lessons learned at Petsmart. 

1.  People take priority over the task.  My job is retail so ultimately people are top priority, but the reality is I’m a tasker and a list maker.  People “interrupt” getting work done.  The problem with this mentality is that people are the reason I even have a job.  This has been a great lesson for me in ministry as well.  Yes, there are things that must get done in ministry, but not at the neglect of people and relationships.  Without people we have no ministry!
2. Never under any circumstances make yourself available to work on Bird clean out day…if you have ever cleaned a bird cage, no explanation needed!
3. I need to listen more!  I know this may be obvious, but when you are trying to help a customer trouble shoot a problem, it requires really listening to their problem and helping to find a solution.  Sometimes in ministry we can have our “pre-packaged” response to every situation that we forget to really listen to people and what may be going on in their life.
4. Humility!  Truth is we are never above any one or anything.  My job keeps me humble and reminds me that our life as believers should be a life characterized by humility and service.
5. If I had to choose I would rather get bitten by a snake than a bird or hamster any day!   Those little guys hurt like crazy!  Never judge a book by its cover.
6. People will often surprise you.
7. I’m not a big fan of birds!  Sorry bird lovers.
8.  Everyone has good days and bad days, best thing we can do is just go with it and be an encouragement to others when we can. 
9. I have a new respect for the leaders from YBC Youth who worked full time and still made time to pour into students!
10. Did I mention I don’t like birds?! 

All that to say…so grateful for my job and yet so excited that South Asia is right around the corner!