A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Rice Handford
Our fifteen-year-old grandson is loving his new job at a fast-food restaurant. His Christian employers
have given him his first priority: “Make your customer feel valued.” It’s easy, perhaps, to do that, if you’re
not pressed with customers, but hard when you have a long line of people hungry, waiting to be served, and
needing to get back to their jobs quickly. It’s a lot of pressure for a young man new at the job. But he likes
the challenge. He says, “I think I’m doing it right, Grammie. I’m working hard at it, and I get lots of good
tips!”
When Walt and I served as chaplains with Interim Health Care, our boss, Ray Schroeder, encouraged
us always to say to our clients, “It’s an honor to serve you.” True, again, that when we’re under pressure,
with high expectations from many different people, all of them needing our help, we must remind ourselves
that it really is an honor to serve them. It is honorable work because we are doing God’s work when we serve
faithfully at the task He has assigned us.
In my old age, my children do for me many small, unrewarding jobs. The other day I thanked my
daughter for her help. She answered sweetly, “It’s my pleasure.” I was comforted, since I feel guilty for the
many tasks others now have to do for me. She made me think it really had given her pleasure!
You know what it feels like to be treated as if you were unimportant. Once I was in the market for a
new computer. I’d done the research, gotten good advice from knowledgeable people, found the right
machine at a good price at a dependable big box store, had my credit card in hand. I was ready to buy.
I walked into the computer department. The manager pointed to a young salesman. “He’ll help you,”
he said.
But the young man was playing a game on one of the demonstrator computers, and answered me
abruptly when I asked for his help. I don’t why he was so absorbed by the game. Perhaps he was about to
break the record for that particular computer game. At any rate, he was engrossed in his game. I tapped my
foot, cleared my voice, moved into his line of sight, but got no reaction. I thought perhaps the manager
would help me, but he was taking care of someone else. Meanwhile the clerk played with ferocious, single-
minded intensity. I waited. And waited. And waited. Finally I walked out of the store, went to another
store, found the computer I needed at a competitive price, took it home and was learning its intricacies by the
end of the day. But I have never forgotten how absolutely worthless I felt that day.
In the tasks your heavenly Father has given you today, the people you come in contact with deserve
your attentive care, whether you have been paid to care for them or not. Every single human being, no matter
their age, ethnicity, intelligence, or social standing, was created by a loving God in His own image (Genesis
1:27). With great delight God created every one of us, endowing us with exactly the abilities He wanted us to
have. And we are all, every one of us, very precious to Him. So it really is an honor to serve those created in
the image of God Himself. True, as I can hear you protest, some of God’s creatures test our patience and
skill. We still owe them honor. Here’s how God wants us to go about doing this:
If you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.
Don’t just pretend that you love others. Really love them.
Hate what is wrong.
Stand on the side of the good.
Love each other with genuine affection,
and take delight in honoring each other.
Never be lazy in your work, but serve the Lord
enthusiastically.
Romans 12:8-11 (NLT)
It’s a tough standard to meet, and we can meet it only in the strength of the Lord God Himself.