Passion and The Fish Who Brought Me Here (not a French seafood recipe)

I think it's safe to say that I am passionate about food. I also think it is safe to say that my passion has bled over into my personal and professional life. My work is food. I am a dining facility manager at a small site Air Force Dining Facility in Germany (The Best Small Site DFAC in USAFE, 2010 to be exact). I love this work. I often feel so restricted by the Air Force Recipe System, that I want to scream. I know that my people are capable of so much more and they have proven so on many occasions. I hate mediocracy, despise it! But I am forced to do it anytime I'm in an Air Force kitchen. Don't take this as me whining about my job--it is, but it's also not because I LOVE my job. I am passionate about the food, but I am more passionate about being a servant.

My Passion and my people all in one picture!

God has called me to be a servant over and over again and, like Jonah, I have run the other way many times. The funny thing about this is that I have not been swallowed by a literal whale. I have been swallowed by a metaphorical whale--my job. When I came into the AF as a weatherman, I knew it was a good job but I knew that it wasn't my calling. After the weather job didn't work out, I was forced into Services where I was trained to do my job now. In Services, I am a servant to the customer. That might sound bad but it's the life God built me to live. I didn't realize until recently that as I was running away from servanthood, that I was running straight into it. Through my job, my passion for food and servanthood to the people I serve,  I am slowly being trained to be a servant to God.
Now if you recall in the story of Jonah, he was eventually spit out from the fish and onto the beach. Well, here I am on the beach serving. My longing for excellence, my drive to be the best, my love for the smile of my customers, the positive comment card and the never-ending need for approval is only me being obedient to the God who caught me and shoved me into a fish against my will and made me become His servant. He might sound like a bully in this case, but He is good, so so good.
I suck at being a Christian. I'm a pitiful example if you're looking for one, but I simply cannot look at a situation like this and not see God in it. I have been brought to this point for one specific reason--to serve. Not just to serve food to customers every day. Not just to serve up amateur recipes online every week. But to serve my calling to be a servant to people in an effort to spread the love that God has given me.  Thank you all for your support while starting up the ProAm Kitchen Blog and I look forward to continuing to bring you great food, recipes and parts of my life every week.

Aaron Oeth
The ProAm Kitchen