Listening to God

Amy and I have been praying a lot recently because we have some big decisions to make in our lives and I have found that I have a hard time listening to answers from God. I often pray for his guidance and then I find myself trying to take action based on what I think is best. So I have been trying to pray and then spend some quiet time just listening or at least making myself ready to listen if he decides to answer audibly or inaudibly right then. This is really hard for me to do, I am very impatient and I have a very active imagination so it is really difficult for me to sit there and not have my mind wander. I think I also stress myself out looking for answers in places and people. I will start over interpretting events or things people say in an effort to find an answer from God about what I'm dealing with. It's a frustrating situation because the things we are praying out really will have a strong bearing on the rest of our lives. I really do want God to lead us in what pursuits we should undertake but I have a hard time giving up control and just letting him do his thing. So I'm trying to practice being patient and I am trying to have faith that I will know beyond any doubt when God is speaking me and showing us the way he would like us to go.

For those of you that pray do you find that you have a hard time receiving God's answers? Sometimes I think I might pray and not expect an answer at all, like I'm doing it just to try and be courteous to God but ultimately I am going to decide on my own anyway. I'm trying to break this habit. I have this belief that if I really can let God direct my life and use me in a way that best suits me then those deep desires of mine that are often hard to verbalize would come to be. I think I would feel comfortable, confident, joyful, and proud. We'll see if I can ever get there.

Help with a name

Amy and I might be getting a personal training business going that we would ultimately like to grow into our own gym. If we were to do this we would need to have a business name. If you guys have any ideas I'd love to hear them. Think along the lines of anything pertaining to health, wellness, fitness, exercise, feeling good and healthy...etc. I have some ideas but let me know what you think, don't worry I won't give you any negative feedback so feel free to try and be creative and original.

Thanks in advance for all your great ideas.

Tipping at Restaurants

Tipping waiters and waitresses (henceforth referred to as waiters, not because I'm sexist but because it's a shorter word and easier to type) at restaurants has been the subject of many debates that I have had. Ultimately I believe that tipping is a personal decision. Every individual should decide what they are comfortable with when it comes to tipping. Furthermore I don't think anyone should force their tipping practices onto others, nor should the think poorly of some one or openly ridicule some one for how they choose to tip. This being said I will proceed to tell you my thoughts behind tipping but I promise I will not make any effort to compell you to follow my practices (unless I do so subliminally in which case you will have no choice but to do things the way I do and you won't even know that I am compelling you to do so).

I aknowledge that waiters are not well paid by the restaurants they work at and that much of their money comes from tips. Many people like to give big tips based on this fact, but I don't. Waiting tables doesn't require any skills beyond be able to talk to people, write, and carry food. The first two are learned by pretty much everyone in the United States and the last one can be done by pretty much anyone who practices for a little bit. So waiters don't get paid a lot for a reason, the fact that tips are commonly given to them is a great bonus that most other jobs don't offer. I also don't sympathize with the low pay because they know what they will be paid when they take the job, it's not like they are forced into beint a waiter.

I am perfectly willing to tip if I feel like some one deserves it but I am a big stickler for customer service so I have high standards for what warrants a tip. I really try to refrain from basing my tip on the amount I spent on the food simply because just because an item is more expensive doesn't mean the waiter had to work any harder so why would they get a bigger tip. Whether I order the salmon or just a little side salad the waiter does the same amount of work. Along this same vein I have no idea who came up with 15%, people have come to feel obligated to tip that much for some reason.

I like to base tips on performance. Is the waiter friendly and respectful, do they know about the food they are serving, are they quick with getting drinks and to they get me refills regularly or do I have to ask for one, Can they answer my questions and if I have a question are the able to answer it. These are fairly easy things for a waiter to do and I would consider them the basics of their job and yet very frequently I am dissappointed with the service I receive.

I close with this, if you want to tip some one a large amount feel free to do so and feel proud that you did something very nice for the waiter. If you don't think a waiter deserves a tip and you don't want to leave one, don't, and feel proud that you are making a statement that in order to get your money the service industry has to perform at a level that is acceptable to you. I reiterate that tipping is a personal choice and no one should be made to feel guilty however they choose to do it, and no one should be pushed to tip like some one else does.