It is amazing how well baked-goods would go at the coffeehouse after people would ask, “Is that made from scratch?” and the answer was “yes.” Most of my recipes came from my mother-in-law, her sister-in-law and my Granny.
When I was in kindergarten through second grade, I lived with my Granny and she made my clothes “from scratch.” Unfortunately, she would use whatever material she had laying around the house and sometimes my underwear was made out of flour sacks. I’m not sure if you have ever felt the fabric of flour sacks, but it is very scratchy.
I had to take a school bus to school each day and there were two little boys that were cousins on the bus. Each day they would try to pull the curl out of those banana curls. They would make fun of me mercilessly until I socked one of them in the nose one day. They stopped making fun of me.
First grade came along and we had school all day. That was hard because I liked hanging out with my Granny in the afternoons. She always let me help her roll out the dough for the pies she made daily from scratch and pick the stems off of the green beans she grew in the backyard. But, first grade was interesting.
About a month after school started, a new girl came into our class. By then, everyone had established friendships and had their cliques started. I never was a fan of cliques, even back then. This little girl always wore a headband with a big flower on it and ruffled dresses. I always had dresses on, but sometimes they had a picture of a flower on them advertising baking flour.
I already had quite a few friends in class because of kindergarten and riding the bus with the same kids for the second year. The new girl didn’t ride the bus, her mother dropped her off each day.
I introduced myself to the new girl and showed her where to put her lunch box and coat. I made a point to have her sit with me and my friends at lunch time so she did not have to eat alone. The other girls made fun of her huge headband and ruffled dress. That really made me mad because I remembered what it was like to be made fun of so I let my old friends know that this was my new friend and it was not very nice to make fun of people.
This went along for several weeks until the other girls accepted the new girl and invited her to join them at lunch and at recess. Before I knew it, the new girl was quite popular and started making fun of my “made from scratch” dresses.
I told my Granny about the situation and what had been going on and she told me that my dresses were made from scratch with her two very own hands and with much love. The new girl didn’t even know who made her dresses. Somehow, that made me feel better.
Granny also reminded me that I was “made from scratch” with God’s two very own hands.
David fully understood this concept when he wrote, “You made all the delicate inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous and how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.” Psalm 139:13-16
How special is it to know that you were made very uniquely? Don’t be afraid to stand out from the crowds because you have the same beliefs as David. I’m proud to be “made from scratch!”

Customer Service…Oxymoron?

I went to the grocery store on Monday and had one of the most annoying hours of my life. I was looking for almond milk and frustrated that it was not in any of the aisles I thought it would be. So, after wandering around aimlessly looking for someone employed there (notice I didn’t say “work” there) I found a young man stocking shelves and asked him if he knew where the almond milk was. He commented that he didn’t know you could milk almonds! I have to admit that as annoyed as I was, I had to laugh because I think he was serious.
I passed 4 more employees on my way to the alleged aisle that had the almond milk. Not one person smiled, made eye contact or acknowledged my existence.
Finally, I find the almond milk and go to check out. There were 2 checkers and about a hundred customers standing in those two lanes. After reading half of the magazines in the checkout aisle and ignoring the headlines of the other half, I am next to check out. I took out that little bar thing to separate my groceries from the groceries that belonged to the lady in front of me and she wanted to know if I was worried about her groceries touching my groceries. I tried to explain to her that bar thingy was to let the checker know when her order ended and mine began. She still looked insulted.
Then, I have a twenty-something young lady that had her tongue pierced and I could not understand one word she said to me. I got to the point where I just smiled and nodded. Next thing I knew, I have donated $5 to (I think) the humane society.
This checker never smiled, never made eye contact and grunted when I asked her how she was doing. By the time I was done with her, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to adopt her or ground her. I did tell her that I thought that she obviously did not like her job. She wholeheartedly agreed.
After being in several customer service type businesses, I am very aware of the customer service I receive when I am out. If I receive good service at a restaurant, I tip very well. If I receive good service in other venues like the grocery store, a department store, my insurance agent or any service that does not require tipping, I make a point to let those people know they have treated me well and I really appreciate it and I will tell everyone I know. However, if I receive poor service, I will tell everyone I know.
If I lost a customer, in whatever career I was in, it would make me crazy if I did not know why. That’s a “be careful for what you wish for” kind of thing, but maybe I would have had a chance to remedy whatever the problem was.
With the way that the economy is, everyone should appreciate having a job because there are those who do not. And, I can not understand people who do not desire to do a good job at what they do.
If we all did our job as if God were our boss, wouldn’t we be much more conscientious about doing a good job? We are told in Colossians 3:23-24, “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men; knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.”
Not only does God want us to do a good job at what we do, He wants us to “Do all things without grumbling or disputing.” Philippians 2:14
Doing a good job for God may be easier than the
“without grumbling” part, but, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13. That includes keeping a smile on my face the next time I walk through the grocery store!