CBM intern – How God Will Use My Past Experiences for His Glory?

By CBM National intern, Andrew Willis –

I’m one who loves to dwell on the past and my memories, but sometimes I wonder how God will use some of
my past experiences for His glory.

I left off my last blog with hopes of going to a friend’s wedding. Soon after that, I found out that my CBM
National Intern Coordinator had talked to the camp director at Camp Gilead (my summer rotation) and I
would be able to go.

I thought I would be going as a guest, with no stress or responsibilities, and I was ready to embrace a
peaceful evening of relaxation…I was wrong. I got there 2 hours early and Katie’s mom (Leslie) asked if I
minded helping out. I love to help people, especially a friend, so naturally I agreed. She had me doing easy
things like carrying boxes, setting tables, and things of that nature. I thought, “Okay, I will do this until the
wedding starts and then I can relax.” I was wrong again. About an hour before the wedding was to start, I
suddenly got put in charge of serving the food and being in charge of the other servers as well. We had to
make salads and prepare the main dish to go out to 18 tables. Now the stress was starting to set in, and I was
afraid I was going to ruin the reception. That’s when God showed me I could use my past experiences from
working at Papa John’s, and I took time to pray for God to help us get the food ready on time.
We had most of it done before the ceremony started, so we all went to see the ceremony. I thought, “We
are almost back on schedule, so we can easily finish everything else right after the ceremony.” Again, I was
wrong! There was a hiccup in the sound system that caused everything to be off schedule. However, the
guests still expected the reception to be at the scheduled time. We got the food out a little late, which stressed
me out.

I thought I was blowing it, but shortly, we got back on track and it all went smoothly after that. I even got to
catch up with an old friend who was there, connect with a family that was interested in what I’m doing in the
CBM National Internship, and even talk to some teens about Christ. After the wedding, I stayed to help clean
up and Leslie gave me a big hug and started crying, thanking me for my hard work. To be honest, I teared up
a little too.

This was a great experience for me to be in a leadership position and it showed me that God can use my past
for His glory, just like Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that
love God, to them who are called according to His purpose.” I believe God allowed me to be there, not only
to teach me something, but to help Leslie, who was short-handed. I thank God for lessons like these. We can
never stop growing closer to Him or learning to trust Him more.

Edited by: CBM National

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