Great Cookies!

I was having lunch with a young adult in my group yesterday who is struggling to finish his G.E.D. and get his first real job. I can understand some of his heartache and pain but as we talked he seemed to understand that he needed to step up and do something different. He is someone that is typical in my neighborhood. He grew up in a single parent home, his mom rocks but with some disadvantages that make it difficult for him to focus and finish.

I work with many youth and adults who struggle with knowing how to focus and finish anything except their video game or latest post on Facebook. I know that as we sat at Smashburger eating lunch and talking that I could tell that he was a little discouraged after applying to a few jobs and getting literally no response – zero. So I asked the usual questions about first impressions with how did you dress, what was your attitude that day, did you shave, shower, look good and smell nice?  

He was still studying for his G.E.D. so I encourage him to make a goal of getting it done like in a couple of weeks. Otherwise finding a job during the Christmas Season won’t happen. I asked him by Monday to go online or go to the college and see how much it cost to take the test, whether he could pass a couple of sections and retake the math section if he bombed. I quickly texted him a reminder about doing this by Monday with the offer of paying for the test if he took it within a week.

I know that my friend won’t win high marks for first impressions because of being bi-racial and someone that can come across with an attitude. So I jokingly said that we needed to do a makeover on him to so he can be positioned to succeed and not shoot himself in the foot with his first interview or meeting a manager in a store or restaurant.

As we were finishing tutoring last night one of our new volunteers, a seasoned mom, hands out her brownies and cookies. You could instantly tell these were just not a hit but the best most of the kids had tasted in their lifetime. Talk about making first impressions and winning the hearts or I should say stomachs of everyone. I would only hope that my friend Nate would see the great example of this mom who went the extra mile to love on some kids with her favorite cookie receipe. How is it possible that we can get to the 100^th level of a video game but when it comes to being dressed right and mentally up for a job interview we bomb?

Pray for my friend that he would step up and study, take his G.E.D. test and then start looking for work in a passionate way. I know that God has a great first job for him once he follows through with the basics.