Week 2

I have officially become a Chicago-ian, OK I don't know if that phrase is legit, but yes indeed I am officially living in Chicago!
I know that sounds silly, y'all are like "Katie I thought you moved in two Fridays ago," and you would be right, but the first week was all about getting acclimated to the city and to the routine of things around here and now it has begun, things are in full swing.
Oddly enough, even though last week was our first week, I know feel like I have lived here my whole life, which is very cool.
So anyway onto the meat and potatoes of this past week:
Work has been great! Seriously great! I actually feel like a part of the team at Lake Street and I feel like my work and presence there is valued and appreciated, which shouldn't matter because my worth isn't found in whether I am appreciated or not by those I work with, but it does feel good to be accepted there.
On a similar note, I know God is using my experience at Lake Street to not only to do ministry there or share my faith with those around me but for my own healing.
I'll explain.
Two summers ago, I didn't know who God was and looking back on it wouldn't even consider myself a Christian, yes I was raised Catholic, but as far as I knew, that was enough for me at the time, I rested on my identity as a Catholic girl but had no clue what it meant to actually BE Catholic. So anyway, I was working for my grandparents and taking classes at Macomb, which is a community college. Working for my grandparents was fun, tiring but fun. I was finally building a relationship with my grandparents and that was something I had really wanted all my life. So to make a very long story short, my grandfather got very sick in the beginning of July and passed away two weeks later. My world stopped. Literally. He was the first person in my family, that I had a relationship with, to pass away and his death was something I know I still haven't completely dealt with. So, at that time my beliefs couldn't have been more scattered. I didn't know what I believed or what to believe, I was lost. Again, paraphrasing, his death and those questions I was asking myself about my faith and what I believed ultimately led me to my faith in Jesus Christ. I know what you're asking is "OK Katie what does that have to do with Chicago," But I am getting there...
My grandfather was a contrator for many many years. I got to see a little bit of what he did growing up, but not the inner-workings of it. So I work at a landscaping supply company, meaning contractors come in and buy things for jobs and come to get estimates on items for future projects. At the beginning of the week, I was working at Sean's desk (one of my bosses) which is by the sales desk. And as I was sitting there, listening to the contrators and thinking about everything that goes on there, I couldn't help thinking about how my grandpa would fit in there. I could see him standing at the counter with a toothpick in his hand asking the guys about some product for a church, I could see him correcting the newer employees and flirting with the young women behind the counter, innocently of course. I could see him eating a polish sausage on Fridays when we put them out for the contrators, he loved that stuff. I feel his presence there. When talking to my mom about how I felt and what I was thinking while at work she made me realize something. This is God's way of helping me finally come to terms with my grandfathers death. I am seeing his world, the contracting business world from his eyes, from behind the scenes. Working in his environment, I think will help me learn about the kind of man he was in the business world and help me connect to him on a different level, his level, in something he was good at, in something. It is almost like God is using this experience at work to show me something about my grandpa, connect to him on a different level and help me remember him.
I realize this sounds crazy. I know it does, but seriously that's how I feel. His death rocked my world and working at this place may help put some of those lost pieces, the ones still floating out in the space of my brain, back together. I know God knows that, I know He knows I am still dealing with my grandfather's death and the effects of it, yes something good came out of it, I gained eternal life and an amazing God who loves me, but a piece of my family is missing and I know working at this place will help heal those feelings of loss and help me feel as though he isn't completely gone from my life.
God is sovereign and uses everything for His glory and His benefits and I know this experience at Lake Street will help me see that although my grandfather died, God used it to pull me close to Him and God is now using my grandfather's life to heal the pain of that loss... and that is how cool Our God is, He can do anything and he knows what we need and He uses it for His glory.
Again, God works in crazy ways, and on top of everything I am learning here and everything He is teaching me, I know He will help me come to terms with some of the pain I still have left from events in my life, and my grandfather's death is one of those events. I am so thankful to be here and to be learning and growing so much already, and I am thankful that everyday at work I get to remember and in a way celebrate my grandfather's life and what His death did for me in my walk with the Lord.
Praise God for that!

"Cast all your anxieties on the Lord, for He cares for you."
1 Peter 5:7
Yes, He cares, he really cares.