The day had seemed longer than it had actually been and now my feet were aching. I wanted the shopping trip I was accompanying my wife on to finish. I didn’t want to entertain another moment of browsing and regular glances at my watch communicated this clearly.
‘Just one more shop’ I heard, but I was sure I had heard that somewhere before. We walked into the local branch of a famous department store and headed towards the counter of a well known skin-care range of products. The atmosphere was alive with an intoxicating mix of scents and the staff all wore their multiple layers of foundation cream very well. ‘Can I help you?’ a friendly voice enquired.
My wife began to take her up on this offer of assistance and I could tell from the direction of their interaction that this could be a long visit in this ‘just one more shop’. Another member of staff joined in and my wife seemed to be in her element having two people help her spend money. I may have had one eye on the approaching expiry time of our car park ticket but I couldn’t help but be impressed by the way these two shop assistants were engaging.
I pointed at my watch and nodded at my wife and she knew it was time to bring this shopping fest to an end. She picked up the items she wanted to purchase and the two staff accompanied her to the till where she paid for them. I was looking forward to retrieving the car without any penalties when my wife threw a spanner in the works. ‘Would it be possible to see your manager please’ she enquired of the staff. My hopes of a swift exit were dashed and the two staff members looked perplexed, even worried. Had they done or said something wrong?
They put a call out for the manageress who arrived with her ‘shield and armour’ ready to face the barrage of another customer complaint. ‘I just wanted to commend your staff’ my wife said. The ‘shield’ dropped and a sense of the unexpected could be felt. ‘In all my years of retail work, I have never come across customer service as good as I have experienced from these two members of your staff today – I just wanted to say thank you’. It was a lovely moment and I could tell it had made their day. As we exited the shop for a very brisk walk to the car I commended her for doing such a lovely thing.
When we arrived back home I could hear my wife on the phone in the next room. She was now phoning the head office of the department store giving the names of the two staff members and lavishing praise on them for their excellence. The lady on the other end of the phone in the customer services department expressed that she had received lots of complaining calls throughout that day and was feeling quite affected, but that ‘this call’ had made her day.
The following week we were visiting the store again and as soon as we walked through the doors, these staff came towards us and gave us a big hug. One of them began to share some of the challenges she had faced recently but when she came into work at the beginning of the week, their names were printed on the wall of the staff room with a congratulatory message. With tears in her eyes she said ‘that is the nicest thing that anyone has ever done for me!’
The bible encourages us to ‘Let our conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt’ (Col 4:6). Christians can often be perceived as judgemental, complaining and highly skilled at articulating what is wrong and while there may be a ‘time for everything’, there is definitely a call for each of us to ‘season our conversation with grace’ and look out for opportunities to communicate the taste of Gods grace to others.
We’ve had some great conversations with these staff and we’ve had further opportunities to share the love of God. We don’t believe this story is quite finished yet...
But it’s a story that wouldn’t have started if I had followed my tired feet. The story began with my wife being a blessing by seasoning her conversation with the inspired grace of God. We can all be too busy, too self absorbed, too concerned with our own demands and aware of our own ‘tired feet’ and miss the opportunity to start stories. Let’s reach beyond ourselves and offer encouragement and blessing to others. Wouldn’t it be amazing if we were known for the traces of grace that we leave behind in every conversation?
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