A lot has happened since my last post. The 29th of April was my last day working at New Balance. I have spent over 6 years there.

I can not believe that it’s over. God did a lot through those years there. When I began working there I was not sure why God had given me a job selling shoes? I graduated from Moody Bible Institute with a Pastoral Studies Degree. This is a school that focuses on people going into full time ministry. This did not make sense to me…why would I get a degree that I would not use. I was ready to change the world. Erika and I had just gotten married after I graduated and we were trying to figure out what God had for our lives. We thought we knew what God had, but he showed us differently. We applied to a missions organization at that time feeling that it was what God had for us but He closed that door on us. We were not sure what was going on in our lives? I asked God, “Why would you have me go through all this schooling to get a degree that I am not using? Why am I selling shoes?” I did not understand but God had it all figured out. He always does!

I started out as a plain and simple sales associate. All I was doing was working with people helping them find the right type of shoe for their feet. God had a plan for all of this. He taught me a lot about people. People are very important no matter who they are. Each person that came through our doors was another person that God had for me to serve. But not only the people that came through the store but my co-workers also. Each day I tried to do my best to serve the customers as well as my sales associates. God opened up my eyes to the importance of pouring into the people that He put before me no matter who it was!

God grew me in the company and eventually God gave me the opportunity to be a store manager. Throughout this whole time God has been preparing me for the next stage in our lives. Through this job God taught me many skills that I would otherwise not have had the chance to learn including people skills, how to be a manager, how to serve others, and how to see people’s needs. God will use all of these skills in the work that we will be doing in Italy. I am not sure how everything is going to work together but I know that these skills that He developed in me are for a purpose. I was also able to build great relationships with all of my co-workers. I just hope and pray that they were able to see Jesus through me and that their lives may have been challenged as a result. I pray that God may be showing Himself to all the people that He brings into our lives.

Basically, this is what God taught me through this: no matter what you are doing or where you are at God can use you if you allow Him to. He also sometimes wants to teach you skills that He will use in the future. God does not do something in your life without having a purpose for it: His ultimate glory and honor. God showed all this to me despite my trying to figure what He was doing in my life.

What is God doing in your life that you do not understand? Are you going to let Him use you wherever you are at?

Jon Tello