"It's a great morning..."

   I was standing at the counter, early one morning this week, at Chick-fil-a. Waiting for a refill on my Diet Arnold Palmer  - unsweetened ice tea mixed with no-calorie lemonade that is just sharp enough to make one eyelid quiver - one of the employees passes by in front of me. All of the sudden, she starts talking to no one in particular.

"It's a great morning at Chick-fil-a, how may I serve you."

   Just like that! She was talking into her headset and taking the order of the next person arriving at the drive-thru. We know that thousands of cars will pull up to place their order there, every day. But, do we take for granted that someone will always be on the other end of the speaker welcoming us? Think about it, the quality of their customer service is based, in large part, on having the right person with the right attitude ready to welcome people at the right time.
   What about the church? We are blessed to have people who sign up to serve as greeters and to stand ready to welcome people as they enter our building. We have people and families visit us for the first time, literally every week. Our greeters deliver smiles and beautiful words of welcome. Of course, we can always use more. Contact Jessi Marlow about helping out at any of our three services (jessi@bonairechurch.com)!
   What about out in the world? I think this is what our witness is all about. We never know when someone will pull up to the drive-thru of our little world, in need of something God has gifted us with. Think about the menu that every Christian is called to offer: forgiveness, Good News, encouragement, love, grace, kindness, joy, peace, patience, and the list goes on and on. It happens all of the time. Walking across the room, and something speaks clearly into our headset. "Go speak to that person." "Go help that person out." "Go offer that person a word of comfort or share some word of wisdom with them.
   I am not suggesting that we can never have a bad day, but the Bible is pretty clear that we must be ready for anything. Matthew 24:44 says, "Therefore, you also should be prepared, because the Human One will come at a time you don’t know."
   May we be ready, and may the Holy Spirit provide for us what that person needs. Grace and peace, Scott