Brain Links and Fighting Battles!

My family travels the world for the winter and for parts of the fall and spring. In the summers however, we go to our beloved cabin in Cheboygan, Michigan! There is really nothing better than summertime in Northern Michigan if you ask me. The Great Lakes, Mackinac Island, bonfires, shopping, seeing friends and family, lemonade and jasmine tea, hiking in the woods, ice cream trips, live music.... I could truly go on forever about all the things that make me love these summers so much! We've been coming up north for the summer for the past six or seven years, but it was just last year where a whole new element got thrown in. I got my first summer job working at a health food cafe, market, and yoga and massage studio called Nourish! All of the pictures in this post are of us enjoying Nourish and its food!

This summer I'm back at Nourish, and I truly think it's the best job I could possibly have. You see, I LOVE being around people and interacting with them. At Nourish, I take their orders and get to have conversations with total strangers. I also get to try all sorts of healthy and delicious recipes, learn about the small business world firsthand, and develop the difficult habit of really working for the Lord and not for men. Don't get me wrong, there are some rough days. Its not fun at all when I mix up an order, am behind on dishes, or spill a dark red smoothie all over my white clothes. But our mistakes don't define us, so those moments teach me how to forgive myself and rely on God more.

However, despite all of the ups and downs that I've experienced since getting my first job, there is this one idea that I've been stuck on and trying to act out this summer. In my mind I refer to it as my "positive association" idea. Last summer, I really loved getting to make hundreds of small connections with people. However, there was always the element of the fact that I was ultimately just the girl handing these people their food. Even if I made them smile when they were having a bad day or gave them a compliment that really struck them, all things considered I was a miniscule part of even just their week, much less their life. At first this made me feel slightly insignificant (although I still loved talking to people). Then it struck me. "These people will certainly forget me. They will forget what I said to them. They may even forget the whole trip to Nourish eventually. But what if my five minutes with them could help just a little bit in changing their life?"

People like to feel good about themselves. Our brains very frequently link feelings with things such as objects or smells or sounds. This is why whenever I smell my mom's family spaghetti recipe I feel randomly comforted and nostalgic: my mom has been making it as a comfort food since before I can remember. It's why I feel thirsty and like I want to go swimming all of the sudden when I spray a certain perfume: I first wore it when I went to the beach in California two years ago. It's why when I hear the Elena of Avalor (the Disney TV show) theme song I feel like I'm going to throw up: I binge watched the episodes when I was super sick with the stomach flu years ago.

Our brains link feelings like that in our memories. It associates experiences. My brain has associated pepperoni spaghetti with comfort, watermelon body spray with swimming in the ocean, and Elena of Avalor with throwing up constantly. We all have associations like this that our brains make, usually way more than three (these are just a few examples of the thousands of links my brain makes). I like to call them "brain links." Sometimes they're positive and sometimes they are negative.

These links are what got me thinking. I was thinking about what links people's brains have made about me. When I come to mind, what would they instantly feel? I would hope it would be a positive association, but I don't know. As Christians, the entire goal of our lives is to be an arrow pointing straight to God. I wondered, when people look at me, do they think of God's love? And what about the symbol of Christianity, the cross? When people view a cross nowadays, do they think of love and feel good feelings? That became my goal. All of the sudden I realized what an incredible OPPORTUNITY I had working at Nourish! For five minutes, I could give these people a positive association with God and Christianity.

Here's how it works: I started always wearing a cross to work. I either wear it in jewelry or in henna tattoo form. Then I do all I can to bless and be a light to the people I talk to. I try to assess them and see what would make them happy. If it's an elderly couple wearing matching Hawaii hats, I'll ask them about their trip. If it's a teenager, maybe I'll tell her how gorgeous her necklace is. Most of all I smile. A lot. Sometimes it's exhausting and I do terrible at it. But little by little this is my way of making a positive association. I stand there wearing a noticeable cross and trying to make these people feel loved. My hope is that even though they'll forget all about me and our conversation, their brain will pick up the link. It'll connect the dots between that cross and feeling good about themselves. Maybe it'll be totally subconscious, but my hope is that they will make a positive association between love and the Christian cross. Then maybe one day later down the road they'll be presented with Christianity and see the cross again. When that happens, they won't know why, but when they see the cross they'll feel really good about themself for a minute. When they think about Christianity, they will randomly feel loved for a moment. The same way that I absurdly feel sick when I see Elena of Avalor, they will feel loved when they see a cross.

There are about 7.8 billion people in the world. Approximately 2.5 billion of those people are Christians. That makes it around 32% of the world identifying as a Christian. A human being is said to interact with roughly 80,000 people during their lifetime. If 32% of those people they interact with are Christian, that means a typical human interacts with roughlyyyy 25,600 Christians in their life. Could you even imagine the difference it would make if every one of those Christians had tried to make a positive association with the cross to the person they met? If every one of those Christians did their best to show that person the real and unconditionally huge amount of love that God has for them? If every one of those Christians had been an arrow pointing straight to Jesus? The impact would be incredible with even just half the Christians doing that! Sometimes it seems like our efforts are in vain, but take hope! We aren't fighting a solitary battle as Christians. We are all teammates and fellow soldiers working together to fight evil and show love. If everyone does their part (no matter how little or big it may seem), God knits all of our actions to create huge IMPACT! So let's give it a shot! What positive associations can you start giving today? What ways can you show God's love to the world? There will be times when you are just so tired and you feel like you've totally failed, but you haven't! Forgive yourself and move on. We are all human and far from perfect. It's when we just try and let God work through us that the big things happen! I am praying for each of you as you go out to fight your role in this war! Let's give people some amazing "brain links" between real love and Christianity!

Your fellow soldier,

Grace :)

"And He said to them, 'Go into all the world and proclaim the Gospel to the whole creation.'"

-Mark 16:15

JUST FOR FUN: Comment below an interesting or funny brain link YOUR brain has made!