I moved to NYC to serve as a ministry intern at a local church right after I graduated from college a year ago. I moved from the Bible Belt to Manhattan, and I found a job as a hostess at a restaurant in Times Square to help supplement the cost of living. To say that I was rocked by culture shock would be an understatement. I didn't know how to engage with my co-workers, who were SO different from me and everyone I'd ever known. I felt out of place and sought employment elsewhere, but with no such luck. That fall, my church decided to take a group of us through the Forge Residency program. During those few months, God challenged my thought patterns and subconscious beliefs about people. Slowly, and then all at once, my paradigms were shifting.
I started seeing myself as a missionary sent to my restaurant. So I started listening and observing better in an effort to get to know the culture of the place and the stories of those around me. After listening to the Holy Spirit, I began putting a quote and question of the night at the host stand to build connection and community in the workplace. I've had to walk into spaces that are uncomfortable for me - like the clubs and bars - because that's where my friends are. In those spaces, God has opened the door to have honest conversations about faith and spirituality, and why my values are the way they are. There's a new sense of community and honesty in our conversations. I am continuously humbled that the Lord would use a blonde-haired, blue-eyed, white girl from Kansas in the heart of the Theater District.
I think that's how God works in us - slowly and then all at once. When we start the hard work of shifting paradigms or learning new things, it feels like a lot of time and effort is going into it. Chipping away at our harmful thought patterns/beliefs about "those people" feels too weighty - like we'll never be able to break away from them. But the more we allow the Holy Spirit to do His job of transforming us, the "all at once" happens. Thank God we are not the ones who transform ourselves.
- Brooklyn Colburn, Forge New York