My time for working as a Barista at Starbucks is coming to end (thank God!). It has been an incredibly tough year for me, but I wanted to reflect on what I learned through this process. So, let me get a cup of coffee (Starbucks of course) and we’ll get going.

First of all, let me give a little lead in into the circumstances that brought me to Starbucks in the first place. Since 2006, I had been a full-time freelance photographer/photo assistant/digital tech/photo retoucher/web designer. Yes, when you’re freelance you must wear a lot of hats. Well, the economy started to die, and I had this beautiful girl I wanted to start saving for marriage with, so I started looking for jobs. I had several promising jobs in photography that all proceeded to fall through. I was still doing the photo thing, but I only made $450 total in the month of February. Finally I had an amazing opportunity to interview to become Gov. Sonny Perdue’s personal photographer. I walked out of that interview thinking I had it. Perhaps when they said, “We’ll call you in two days to let you know for sure, but we’ll start looking to get you some business cards,” I thought it was as good as mine. I also had an interview with Starbucks after that. The manager there said that if the government job fell through, he’d love to hire me. Well two days turned into two weeks then they finally called and said, “We’re so sorry, but we had to reorder our budget and can’t afford to hire anybody right now.” So I called up Starbucks and told them I accepted their job offer, and honestly I was really depressed.

I went from doing what I love, the freedom of setting my own schedule, the pace I was used to, and making decent money (when I worked) to getting up at 4am making rich people’s coffee for $7 an hour. So in 4 hours of work, I made roughly $28 when I was used to making at least $150 for that same amount of time. Or another way of looking at it, I could make more in one day of photo work than I could in about two weeks at Starbucks. But this post isn’t about that. It’s about what I learned. After just two weeks there, I had two significant conversations (neither of which I initiated) with different people about what it means to have a relationship with God vs a religion. I had been there just two weeks! So here is the first thing I learned:

If I’m not willing to work at Starbucks or (fill in the blank), then God is not going to want to use me anywhere else.

It was an issue with Pride. I was too proud to work at Starbucks. Once I realized that, everything changed. My attitude changed. I was grateful (as much as one can be getting up at 4am). This was the most important lesson I learned while working as a Starbucks Barista.

I also learned about working long, and working hard, and seeing what I was made of.

I started working at Starbucks in March. In June, I got hired at the Apple Store. For the first three weeks of working Apple, I was doing about 70 hours a week between jobs. I got up at 4am, was at Sbux by 5am, worked there until 1pm, then worked at Apple from 2-10pm. I don’t recommend working those kind of hours, but I learned I can do what it takes. Even still, I have been averaging around 60 hours a week for the past 6 months. It’s still crazy to think, as I’m driving home around 7-7:30pm that I have been working since 5am. Part of my leaving Starbucks is a need for balance between work and life.

Consequently another thing I learned was Desperation.

Some people think being desperate isn’t a good thing, but it can be. I was desperate for God’s strength; I needed it to make it through the day. I was desperate for God’s Word; I needed it to renew my mind. As my energy depleted during the week and after being blasted by 80-90 customers an hour just for a latte, I had to refocus. My 1 hour between jobs became a sacred moment. I sit in my truck in the parking lot, because it’s the only place I’m by myself all day. It’s where I beg God to renew my mind, change my heart, and prepare me to get blasted by customers about computers, iphones, etc for another 8 hours.

I learned I need community, badly.

I actually came back and added this part, because it’s true. Working so many hours, I have isolated myself while being surrounded by people at the same time. I work, I go home, I eat, I go to sleep, then I do it again the next day. I have become starved for community outside of work. I learned this by seeing its absence in my life. I’m terrible at community, I realize that. But, I see it’s importance and necessity and am fighting hard to get it back.

Finally, I learned to move quickly.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been almost burned by spilt coffee. Now that I mention it, I also can’t count how many times I have been burned now by coffee. I’ve also learned how to fling scalding coffee off my hand.

It’s been a great experience working at Starbucks, but I’m definitely glad it’s come to an end. Maybe I’ll end up back there again, and if I do, I pray my attitude is that of gratefulness, hard work, and eager expectation for what I’ll learn during that time around.