James 4:17

As I was reading a beautiful post by Angie, I couldn't help but remember a conversation I had about 5-6 years ago. My roommate, Katie and I were in the dorm one day. We both cherished our naps when we got them. I was already asleep and she was climbing in bed when the dorm doorbell rang. So many thoughts ran through my mind. "I'm asleep, I'm not getting up." "All of my friends live in this dorm so it isn't anyone to see me, I'm not getting up." "Surely there is someone closer to the door than me, I'm not getting up." But Katie skipped out the door and down the hall to let the person inside.

Later after we had both gotten our nap finished I told her she was a good girl and I usually didn't get the door until they rang the doorbell 6-8 times. Now, I had my fair share of "Holier Than Thous" but Katie was NOT one of them. But she quoted this verse to me like she knew what I was going to say before I did, "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doth it not, to him it is sin."

All of the applications I had heard on this verse were, "You are not ignorant to the rules, so you must obey them or it is sin." Basically putting a different spin on obedience and bringing light to our responsibility of knowledge. But my Katie Bug got my attention that day. It isn't just following the rules. Nowhere in the rules does it say that you must answer the door when someone rings the doorbell (Thankfully or I would've gotten my number of hours tripled!). It was just doing the right thing, doing good.

I tried to incorporate that into my life right away, but it didn't really thread in until I worked at our local grocery store. You see, we live an hour and a half away from Wal-Mart (Thank you, Jesus!) but people still go there to shop claiming that they save so much money. I have an entirely different arguement on that one that is much too long to interject here. But, I digress... Since we can't seem to convince people that our prices are competitive, and since it is extremely difficult to have everything that every person might possibly come in needing, the only advantage we have is customer service. It is even more difficult to excell in this area because everyone has their different opinion of that, and most people are incredibly unforgiving in that area since we already have the other two "strikes" against us. (I say "us", because people in the community still associate me with the grocery store even though I haven't worked there for 2 1/2 years.) Not to mention the most contact you get with someone in the grocery store is your checker and most of the time it's a 16 year old kid who is only there working because his/her parents require it.

So it was hard work being around the people. Yet there were people that were a joy to see walk in the door. The point I'm getting at is that it didn't matter that I had ordered everything correctly to get in enough product if I didn't smile at the person walking down the frozen foods section. It didn't matter if milk was on sale for a knockout price, if the person was not greeted upon walking in the door they did not want to spend any unecessary money.

I had to go out of my way and anticipate what each person might possibly want me to do for them. It was nerve wrecking and utterly exhausting. But I also learned to smile upon greeting everyone so they don't think I'm a grump. I learned to joke with the jokers and listen to the complainers. I learned which behind the counter products each customer wanted so they didn't have to ask every time. I learned to take the groceries out for the elderly whether they told me they needed help or not. I learned to treat people with respect without trying to decide if they deserved it or not.

Did I always get appreciated or recognized for it? Absolutely not! But I was doing good, I was doing what God requires of us Christians. I have tried to still do those things even though I do not work in the grocery store. That is what I do to be her, here.