Look Back and See How Far You’ve Come

I know we're told to NOT keep looking in the rearview mirror at the past, but this time it’s okay -- looking back at how far we've come. We’ve acquired abilities we never thought possible. We dreamed of driving a car and the day came when we passed the test and now we’ve been driving for years. We dreamed of one day getting married and having children. That day came and now we’ve raised or are raising our children and, quite frankly, doing a pretty good job at it. We dreamed of the day when we’d have a job that paid us well for our hard work. We put that dreaming to work as we earned a college degree or learned a skill or gained on-the-job, hands-on training and experience that opened up even more doors for us.

Think way back to where you started. Maybe it was that newspaper route that taught you the discipline of getting up early and the responsibility to be on time and throw it in the right place on the driveway. Maybe it was that waitress job that taught you patience, diligence and kindness. Maybe those school sports gave you the start you needed to be the team player with sportsmanship and comradery that you have with your fellow employees today.

We can all look back and see how far we’ve come. Who we are is a result of all we have learned, put into practice, and we became quite astute at it because we believed in hard work. I heard it said that “Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, and sacrifice”. We applied those principles and look how far we'ved come.

Think about Jesus Christ – the skills, the abilities, and the leadership qualities he had when he showed up on the scene at age 30. He must have acquired His skills from the training in His family's business and heading it up after His dad passed away. Think about His childhood, youth, and manhood, when He studied the Scriptures. As a little child He was daily at His mother’s knee taught from the scrolls of the prophets. And since He gained knowledge as we may gain it, His power, both mental and spiritual, is a testimony to the value of the Bible as a means of education Here is what was said of Him: “And He grew in wisdom, stature and favor with God and Man.” Luke 2:52.

If we keep working at that creative idea – we’ll land right where God planned for us to be. Like our Lord Jesus Christ -- diligently pursuing who God destined us to be, we'll hear those words, too: “And he/she grew in wisdom, stature and favor with God and man.” Now, whenever you find yourself doubting how far you can go, just remember how far you've already come.

Service With a Smile and Excellence

It’s Saturday and Mom, Karen and I meet at i-Hop for breakfast. This is our annual go-to birthday celebration place and since I’m in Tulsa town this weekend and my birthday is next week – they jump on it. I love these two women so much. They have been sources of anchoring me for so many years -- since I fell in love with Karen’s big brother and Mom’s son when I was 12. We have many precious and cherished memories together.

What makes this celebration even sweeter is this beaming waitress. Just look at her sweet shining light! This is Jacquie! Karen is taking a phone call so I roll Mom in her wheel chair to the booth. I get her settled in and take her wheelchair to a corner out of the way. When I return, this precious girl is bent over helping Mom get out of her sweater. That’s when I am first attracted to her serving beyond her call-of-duty.

I spot her almost ear-to-ear smile. I am drawn to her radiance -- her countenance. I tell her so. She graciously accepts my compliment with an even bigger smile. I'm reminded of Proverbs 15:13 "A joyful heart makes a cheerful face..." She asks if she can get us coffee and within seconds, she returns. Karen joins us and our “shining” waitress is ready to take our order. I ask: “What’s that big smile about? Is it because you love God?” And, instantly, she replies, “Oh, yes. Very, very much!” I say: “Keep shining because this world needs to see what God looks like and how He serves.”

To Mom and Karen, I say: “A blog is on its way!” And here it is for you today! Now you know what Jesus in human flesh looks like. It’s a look of joy, love and kindness. It is excellence in attitude and service. We can’t help but give her an extra good tip because she is all about “service with a smile”. She makes this little birthday celebration so pleasant with responding to our every request without delay, including allowing me to get a photo of her and her taking a photo of us.

I could go on about being a bright light to our world and if ever our world needed more smiles and service like this, it does today! How much more would we want to “bless” those who come with a heart of a servant in excellence and quality customer service? St. Francis said, "Preach the Gospel at all times, and sometimes use words." The beautiful young woman is preaching the good news every day with her happy heart and encouraging smile.

Whether in the service industry or the servant-of-God-ministry (and we should always be in the latter as devoted followers of Christ), we should always be practicing the Golden Rule -- putting ourselves in other people’s chairs and treating them the way we would want to be treated in any given situation.

Service with a smile should be more than a catchy phrase. It should be a heartfelt, everyday commitment to exit the doors of our homes as people-pleasers, people-lovers, people-servers, and people who exemplify the good works of Jesus by bearing His fruit to a world that needs role models who make a difference.