Relationships are not like McDonald's hamburgers.

I am reading this book right now called Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg. Read as a whole or by individual chapter, it doesn't matter-- the author is full of tips and inspirations to bring out the writer within.

You see, she has this chapter titled "Writing is Not Like a McDonald's Hamburger." "Writing is not a McDonald's hamburger . . ." she says, "the cooking is slow and in the beginning you are not sure whether a roast or a banquet or a lamb chop will result." And you thought I was being all clever with my title! This is my favorite chapter of the book because, well, I work at McDonald's. I have made plenty of hamburgers in my 5 years and 3 months of service.

After reading Aaron's post from this week, it brought me back to this chapter of the book. I laughed to myself at his description of how we, culturally, want things to flow: " . . . quickly and in a controlled environment to make sure everything goes according to plan." Ha. That is how I do my job. Which, for a corporation that prides itself on being fast in delivering it's product, is probably how I should do my job. If you disagree with that statement, then next time you have a slow or poor service experience at a McDonald's in the continental United States, don't complain to me about it (because you know you are gonna want to.)

I digress.

My point is, I have spent a lot of time trying to do life the same way I do my job, quickly and controlled, according to MY plan. Except, I kept forgetting about the creator of the Universe and how He already has a plan for me. I remember being 13 and deciding to date when God brought "Mr. Right" into my life . . . now, I seriously considered joining eHarmony last week. OK, so maybe I didn't really think about it as much as I joked, but there have been too many times I have rushed into relationships in order to speed up the process, control it, and make it fit my plan. All I got was a closet filled with skeletons and regrets. I can't do life like that. I need time to be patient, because good friends take a long time to grow. (Again, not from me; I read that on a pillow at a craft show). As cheesy as an analogy as that is, it's true. Relationships take time, they take patience, they take commitment and a willingness to try and try again. And again. And . . . again, and again, and again, and again, and again. You get the point.

In order to maintain a communtity, a growing and thriving community, you need time. And if you are going to spend time developing something, you need to have patience, because it's not gonna be want you want it to be right away, or at all, for that matter. Like Natalie's quote says, you don't really know what the end result might be, only that it's gonna be AWESOME. 'Cause, seriously, who wants a McDonald's hamburger when they could have a bountiful banquet?

Love in the Creator who has a plan for FAR better than any of our own,
Jess