I’m sure you’ve seen the email circulating about the new preacher in town.  He gets on the bus, and pays the fee. On the way to his seat, he realizes that he’s gotten too much change.

As he sits in his seat, he tries to decide what to do with the quarter he got by mistake. First, he thinks that he’ll keep it- after all, the bus company already makes plenty of money, and no one would miss it. Then he realizes that even though it’s only a quarter, it’s still wrong to keep it, because it doesn’t belong to him.

As he gets off the bus, he hands the driver the quarter and says “You gave me too much change earlier.”  The bus driver smiles at him and says, “Aren’t you the new preacher? I gave you too much change intentionally, to see how you’d handle it.  I’ve been trying to decide on which church to go to- I’ll see you Sunday.”

When the preacher gets off the bus, he’s almost rocked to his knees, and thinks, ‘Oh Lord- I almost sold your son for a quarter.’

That may be a sappy story, but it has a good message anyway.  Because like it or not, if you’re a Christian, the people around you watch you every day to see how you’re going to handle bad news, problems, gossip,  rude customers, angry bosses, unreasonable requests.

And what’s an even scarier thought – what kind of witness are you to the “invisible” people who are watching you when you don’t realize it. People who are around you, but not noticeable- like serving staff in a restaurant, or the person who waits on you at your grocery store or department store;  the clerk at your post office. These people are right in front of you, but because of what they do, you aren’t always completely aware of them. How many times have you gone through the checkout line without actually recognizing  the person ringing you up? How many times have you let out your anger or frustration about your job on the waitress who just brought your lunch? How many times have you treated the “invisible” people as less than human?

Because I work part-time in a deli, I’ve seen people act in ways I wouldn’t have believed. It’s like they don’t even see me and my co-workers… I posted on Facebook last year, right after starting my job, that a real friend loves you even when you’re wearing your hairnet. I said it as a joke, but there’s a lot of truth in it.

The next time you’re out and about, watch for the “invisible people”; when you see one, pretend that person is your daughter or son – because that person IS someone’s son or daughter.

And remember- as trite as this may sound- sometimes you are the only “Jesus” someone sees.  Don’t you want to be a good representation of Him?

Who you are and what you do makes a difference.

That’s important for each of us to realize and remember. I have been shown this in my own life in several instances lately that I’d like to share with you. I’m not trying to build myself up, I just want you to see that the little things you do, make a difference in someone else’s life.

Today, Randy and I rode to Cowarts to participate in a Patriot Guard mission for one of our country’s heroes. On our way home, a young man pulled up in the lane beside me on his bike, smiled, pointed towards my PGR banner, then saluted me.  He then pulled up beside Randy and did the same, saying, “Thank You”.  A little further down the road, the driver of a truck hauling cars gave us a thumbs up; again because he saw the PGR banner.  Sometimes I get frustrated because I don’t seem to be making a difference in what I do with the PGR, but both of those incidents make me realize that someone is seeing the PGR for what they are – a group of people who want to show respect to our military personnel, police, firefighters and other first responders.

Another aspect of my life is working with children, both in Children’s Church and working as a substitute. Most people see Children’s Church as a babysitting service, and sometimes that is all it feels like; but I try to remember that if I’m freeing up a mom and dad to hear God’s word, then I accomplishing something. But there’s nothing like the feeling of having a child yell your name and run towards you from across the grocery store – that’s a wonderful feeling.

Again, I’m not saying this to build myself up – I’m just using my own experiences to encourage you. What you do and who you are makes a difference.

We were at the local Verizon store on Saturday, because I’ve got to upgrade my phone. We looked around at the different options, and I spoke to the salesman a couple of times with questions.
When I decided on the phone I wanted, I told the salesman, who then told me that he would be glad to sell me a phone, but it would benefit me more if I went home and ordered it online- there were a wider variety of phones online, more savings available, the phone would be delivered the next business day, and my store credit would work online, so I’d actually get a better phone for the same price.
That’s good customer service in my book. This young man acted very professionally, answering all my questions, besides working with another customer (and not making either one of us feel as if we were being too much trouble). He put my benefit above his own, so I plan on going back to that store for any accessories I need to get for my phone.
How do you live intentionally (see here or here) in your business? Do your employees know how to put the customer’s needs first?

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