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If you don’t count babysitting, the first “real” job I had happened this way: It was my senior year of high school and one of my art classes was centered around creating our school yearbook. At the end of the semester and just as summer vacation was getting started the whole art class was required to solicit contributions from local businesses to help with the expenses of producing it. 

I was okay with this task. While I’ve never liked soliciting for my own needs, pleading for people to contribute to a good cause wasn’t something I felt shy about.  So, off I went, joyously, to every kind of business in my town that might be willing to give towards our school yearbook. Fortunately, many of them responded generously. However, the last one I tried said no. I should’ve known that the manager of a big grocery market chain wasn’t in the position to do that. But not all was lost in my attempt.

The store manager said he couldn’t contribute to my school’s cause, but to my surprise he asked if I’d like a job as a “box person.” He then went on to offer, that if I did well at bagging groceries, he would train me as a checker. I was elated at the prospect of having a real job.

So, that year, at the age of 18, I got my first real job. I also found out that I had earned the highest contribution amount of the class. And true to his word, a few months later, the manager trained me to be a grocery checker. It was a physically hard job in some ways, but one of the best paying manual jobs of that day.   

We never know where a simple, or even daunting, task might lead. That task led to a job at a grocery store that also led to meeting the man I married. You see, my husband of more than 50 years now, was a customer at the second market I worked at after my family moved to a new community. I made many other friends through the job of being a grocery checker too. One of them became a regular art student of mine many years after I quit working that “real job,” and she remains a friend to this day. I also have fond memories of encounters with customers when I was off duty. One of those serendipitous meetings, out of the context of the grocery store, revealed that a customer felt so lifted by my usual smile that she frequently made excuses for coming into the store, as she said: “Just so I could see your smiling face.”  

However, it was a few years into marriage and my job at the second store, when I became pregnant with my first child. I was thrilled with the prospect of becoming a mother and entering this new job arena. Yet, little did I know how difficult it would be at times. Even so, this very real job became my most joyous and important job of all. In 1 Thessalonians 5:16 it says: “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

So, in conclusion, maybe my first real job was learning to be joyful no matter what I was working at, or what new job it would lead to.

Tell me about your first real job and what it meant to you and to others in the comment box here. And don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter so you can download my new “Sweet Devotions for the Soul” booklet for FREE. Check out my YouTube channel at: @IrisCarignan-ATasteOfHoney too and see if it brings a smile to your face too. Savor my most recent video is a cooking demo for Chicken Potpie.

#work #jobs #friendly #smile #joyful #real #smilingface #motherhood #babies

How important are relationships to you? For me, they’ve always been one of the most important things in life, beginning with my relationship with the Lord. Even God proclaimed from the beginning of the creation of man and woman that “It is not good for man to be alone.” Yet today, as never before, we see people struggling to have lasting, deep relationships. Maybe that’s why I wrote a story about three women who develop an unexpected, yet beautiful friendship. 

The dynamic of how friendship works, plays a very important role in “The Buzz @ Chicky-Pie’s Café”. Perhaps that’s why it makes a perfect read for any book club. After all, book clubs can be a great place for fostering deep friendships. They encourage interactive communication and introspective thinking. That was also something I considered when I wrote the “Devotional Thoughts for Readers” addition to “The Buzz @ Chicky-Pie’s Café.” It was my way of offering a uniquely spiritual resource for book clubs. 

In devotion # 6 of my “Taste of Honey, Sweet Devotions for the Soul” booklet, we examine the importance of Godly connections. We even consider how God often uses many different relational encounters and friendships to bring someone to faith in Christ.  We look closely at the main character, Elise, in “the Buzz @ Chicky-Pie’s Cafe,” and examine the importance friendship and connections played in her journey towards freedom and faith.  

If you have my book, you may have noticed that there are only five devotions at the back of my book. If you’d like to get all twelve, it’s very easy. Purchase one or more of The Buzz @ Chicky-Pie’s Café and go to get your 28 page booklet free: 

https://iriscarignan.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0468b8d8b14a92256ff5d309d&id=8c3de0d77a&e=7de0ce39a

As many of you also know, I have my own YouTube channel now too. If you’d like to watch devotional # 6 on video, I’ve attached it here as well. 

Enjoy and may God bless all your relationships and make every connection a good one. 

I#thebuzz@chicky-piescafe #thebuzz #sweetdevotionsforthesoul #atasteofhoney
#booksigning #encouragement #spiritualinspirations #devotions #Christiandevotions #bookclub

Have you ever felt like you’re trying so hard to be good, yet no matter how much you strive, you just can’t measure up? Well, join the crowd. The problem is, none of us are truly good, because as God’s word says in Romans 3:10, “There is no one righteous, no not one,” And in verse 3:23 it continues with: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” But I have some good news-—through God’s gift of grace and Jesus’ sacrifice, we can become perfected in God’s eyes. Ephesians 2:8 puts it this way: “For by grace you have been saved though faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

In this final video series on the Devotional Thoughts For Readers, I look at my character, Elise, in “the Buzz @ Chicky-Pie’s Cafe and how she thinks she has to be good enough for God. I examine that misconception versus trusting in God’s grace and receiving the gift of God’s Holy Spirit. As we approach Easter, it is a most important concept that is essential to any walk of faith. Take a look at the video posted here and keep up with readings from my book, by going to my new YouTube channel, A Taste of Honey-Iris Carignan or click on: @IrisCarignan-ATasteOfHoney

The other good news I have, is that I have prepared a free gift for all of my newsletter email subscribers. In the next few weeks, all who subscribe to my email will receive a free devotional booklet. This booklet is an extension to the devotions in my book and add 7 more devotions that relate to the story and characters in “The Buzz @ Chicky-Pie’s Cafe.” It’s a great preparation and reminder of the meaning and significance of Easter.

So if you’d like to continue the Devotional Thoughts for Readers study, and haven’t yet subscribed, register on my website by going to my books page on this website and enter your name and email address in the registration box.

And while you’re here be sure to watch the video presentation posted below.

A funny thing happened on the way to this posting—another recurring dream. Yep, believe it or not, two days after discussing dreams that reoccur in my last video on the topic, I had another one of my recurring dreams about being back in school. Of course this one was slightly different as they usually are. But you’re gonna laugh when you hear what this one was about. So, take a look and enjoy the irony of it all, because I don’t know about you, but I know dreams can be a mystery.

As for “discernment” Merriam-Webster’s dictionary describes the meaning as: “the quality of being able to grasp and comprehend what is obscure.” I know many of the dreams I’ve experienced over the years are often shrouded in mystery. So, how do we discern the meaning within those confusing dreams? It’s a little difficult to explain it in a short written devotion, so the video’s give a more complete explanation of how to understand the meaning of dreams. You’ll also find a written devotion for each of these videos included in the back of the book, The Buzz @ Chicky-Pie’s Café. 

Purchase your copy of the eBook or print edition of The Buzz @ Chicky-Pie’s Café on Amazon or Barnes & Noble. You can read a sample of the book here.

On day two of the A Taste of Honey Devotion Companion to The Buzz @ Chicky-Pie’s Café, we’ll look to God’s Word on this very subject. And if you want a little taste of the story in “the Buzz @ Chicky-Pie’s Cafe,” you might want to tune into my YouTube channel at: “A Taste of Honey with Iris Carignan”