Humble Beginnings

Humble Beginnings

Today I learned that former President Barack Obama’s first job was at Baskin Robbins scooping ice cream. Thirty-one flavors. Minimum wage. A teenager with a scoop in his hand before he had the nuclear codes.

It reminded me: everybody starts somewhere.

My first job was Safeway. Courtesy clerk. I was a kid pushing carts in the rain, bagging groceries, asking “paper or plastic?” before I knew what a 401k was. I learned how to smile when people were rude. I learned how to show up when I didn’t feel like it. I learned that the man in the suit and the woman counting food stamps both needed their milk carried to the car.

Back then I thought it was just a job. I didn’t know it was training.

Because years later, when I hit rock bottom, Safeway was there again.

But Safeway remembered me.

They gave me hours. Courtesy clerk, again. Full circle. Back to carts. Back to “paper or plastic?” Only this time I wasn’t a kid trying to buy CDs. I was a 51-year-old woman trying to buy her life back.

And it was humbling.

It’s humbling to bag groceries when you used to manage projects. It’s humbling to wear the apron when you have a degree. It’s humbling to smile for the customer when you cried in the break room. But humility is what God uses. James 4:10 — humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up.

Safeway lifted me. Not to the White House. To housing. To stability. God put me there to make a difference, even if the difference was just showing up with a clean vest and carrying someone’s groceries.

Barack Obama scooped ice cream before he ran a country. I pushed carts before I started rebuilding mine.

Humble beginnings don’t stay beginnings. Not if you stay consistent. 5AM. Get up. Get dressed. Get in the Word. Then go to work — whatever that work is. Because God teaches us about discipline. And discipline says you don’t despise small starts. Zechariah 4:10 — do not despise these small beginnings.

You cannot help anyone until you have housing, a job, and savings to keep you away from the streets. Safeway gave me the job part. The rest was up to me and God. Better foods. Less processed foods. Gym soon — treadmill, weights, pool. Book coming. Website coming. Toastmasters at the Labor and Industries building to learn how to speak effectively.

But I won’t forget the apron. I won’t forget the carts. I won’t forget that when I had nothing, Safeway gave me something: income, dignity, and a reminder to be humble.

Because the kingdom is within. And within doesn’t care about your job title. Within cares that you show up.

So if you’re scooping ice cream right now, or bagging groceries, or cleaning toilets, or sleeping in a shelter — don’t quit.

Obama didn’t stay at Baskin Robbins.

I didn’t stay in the shelter.

You won’t stay where you are.

Humble beginnings are just that: beginnings.

The rest is up to your faith, your work, and whether you’ll keep showing up when nobody’s watching.