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Chelsea at the Hy-Vee cash register

A Young Heart for Serving

We are Called: A series on St. Paul people taking their faith to work

Martin Luther wrote that the true vocation of the Christian is to honor God through service to the neighbor. This St. Paul high-schooler is getting the idea>>

Chelsea rattles the front page of the local newspaper. The headline on this April day features the top executives of the five largest U.S. oil companies. She is incensed. Tax breaks and profits for the oil giants have “who-knows-what consequences on the future of the world, just so we can have some oil.” (She’s not too happy about the fuel economy of the SUV in her driveway either.)

This 17-year-old is “all about being a good steward of what we have been given. Those are my mom’s words,” she laughs. But whether Chelsea possesses a language of stewardship or not, she has good sense for living in this ecosystem in which God has planted her.

She wants to make a difference. Today that means carrying water in her own Nalgene bottle rather than a throw-away. It means paying attention to research on “vastly superior options like solar and wind energy for our biosphere.” It means studying for tests and college admission exams so that she can follow her passions toward a profession blending political science and environmental biology.

And whether she recognizes the connection or not, Chelsea is growing as a good steward of the gifts God has given her. She has a lively intellect, a heart for serving, a desire to connect with other people in meaningful ways.

“I was always a brainiac,” Chelsea says, “Always the science girl, catching butterflies and worms.” In elementary and middle school days, her active mind flitted off with the butterflies. “I wasn’t challenged and I never had to study for anything. I was shell-shocked when I got to high school. Now I’m learning how to study. I’m becoming better as a student. Learning is much better than the alternative of being a sloth.”

She “stresses” — about Pre-Calculus homework and ACT tests. As a junior, she’s weighing college options, considering this a “pivotal moment in my life choices.” And even though she worried about missing a week of school in January, she got an eye-opening education on St. Paul’s construction mission trip to Mississippi’s Gulf Coast.

Chelsea doesn’t connect well with some of the “pettiness and short-sightedness” in the hallways and classrooms of her Eldridge high school. She’s far more interested in world events and a certain political candidate, and that doesn’t always synch well with chatter about this Friday’s party.

“I think that’s why I’ve always had a strong relationship with friends at church. I don’t know if people realize how good the youth program is at St. Paul. It makes me a better person,” reflects Chelsea. She’s so connected with church, in fact, that she serves on the Congregation Council as youth representative. “I wanted to be part of the guts of the church.”

“Church is my friendship base,” says Chelsea. “I can have caring and intelligent conversation with others who have a strong faith.” That faith, she says, “works through our talents and abilities wherever we go.”

One place Chelsea goes — for up to 20 hours each week — is the Hy-Vee at Kimberly and Eastern Streets. You’ll find her in white shirt and tie, working the cash register with that Hy-Vee smile, a mark of a young woman who genuinely desires meaningful personal interaction with others.

She greets a customer who sports a pin bearing the Merrill Lynch longhorn bull logo. “We got to talking about subprime mortgages. I said to him, ‘I hope this isn’t too personal, but are you doing alright?’” He said yes, and thanks for asking.” She meets the mom struggling with kids, the person on public assistance, the guy distracted by a cell phone conversation. “When you stand in place for such a long time, you definitely see a lot of people from all walks of life.”

But scanning groceries is not Chelsea’s long-range life vision. “I’ve always had passions for different things. I don’t feel that God has a predetermined set of plans for me. But I think God gives me some gentle direction. Bops on the head.”

Chelsea is striving to grow as a student — and a person — by giving herself enough time for active reflection. Sometimes her “blind persistence” in getting the job done gets in the way, she says. When she plowed through a scholarship essay (“I may have procrastinated. A lot.”), she nearly missed the personal insights revealed in her writing. “Sometimes I have blinders on. I need to see the different opportunities that God is presenting to me.”

Chelsea Weiss — this bright young woman with the infectious laugh who is determined to make a difference — is the church in the world. She’s called to be the hands and feet of Christ wherever she goes. Every day. At school. In her family. In the grocery checkout line. When she reads the headlines or recycles a plastic bottle. She is called.

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"It is a blessed thing to know that no power on earth, no temptation, no human frailty can dissolve what God holds together." ~Dietrich Bonhoeffer, theologian