Post from Grant Costakis

As I walked in to Qdoba, a restaurant that frequent regardless of the city that I am in, I can see him sitting there chatting up a group of employees in the small establishment – that’s him, a fun loving, comedic, high-energy, dedicated servant of God; who after spending over a decade, spent another decade as a grade school chaplain, before moving to his newest role as a grandpa who has two grandkids that visit every Wednesday, in addition to meeting with individuals such as myself, and writing his new series of ministry books whenever he has time apart from his hectic daily schedule. Because of his tremendous character and desire to make himself available to provide encouragement to his brothers and sisters in Christ, he values being purposeful and respectful with the time that Lord has given and will give him in this world. Out of all the lessons I have learned from my mentor, this by far the one that has impacted me the most. While every Christian wants to believe that he or she makes the most of every moment for God’s glory, it is very easy to get lost in the wash of the everyday life. With the backstory/tangent blend out of the way, I can finally get back to the story of the actual meeting itself. As I got closer to the table, I was shaking my head at the fact that I was two minutes late – as I had left my doctor’s appointment to go to Qdoba, I realized that slow services of a nurse who was not excited to be at work had me running a little late, I sent a quick text informing my mentor of the situation. As I was sitting down, my mentor said in sync with me taking a seat: “Grant, I understand you being late, but I cannot believe that you made up a garbage excuse to justify it.” As we spent the next few seconds doing our best Clint Eastwood impersonation, I realized that I could no longer hold the patented look of ‘the man with no name’, as I broke out into a hearty laugh with the crazy Canadian that shares my whimsical sense of humor. As we talked, I shared about my classes, plans for the semester, and interests for the summer. I explained my initial plans from first semester to intern at a small business in downtown Indianapolis, but then continued to share an opportunity to intern at the financial department of my home church’s leadership board. As I discussed the uncertainty of jumping at this opportunity, and the concern of its value to my resume. My mentor then asked one simple question: is working at the church something you want to do, you feel obligated to do, something you want to do, or a combination of these? As we talked further, and he encouraged me to continue to passionately live out a life for Christ that is not handicapped by fear of the standards set by society, I truly appreciated the moments that I get to share with my brother in Christ!