connecting

Working in customer service is quite an experience. Each time the phone rings, there’s this sense of anticipation about who’s waiting on the other line. Is it a tech-savvy pro who has been programming since he or she could speak? Or a computer novice who needs to be reminded of the concept of double-clicking?

One customer that I spoke with last week will be forever-etched into my memory. We started off okay, exchanging hellos and how-are-yous. But then … dun dun dun … a very simple question led to a surprising reaction from the customer, where he then managed to call me a series of words and terms that I definitely can’t repeat here. I was stunned
but just shook it off. When I vented to some friends, I received an encouraging email affirming me that I was not a female canine, nor was I something that Santa says as he rides off in his sleigh, but that I was:

• God’s lovely child
• beautiful in every way
• worth more than I could possibly imagine
• cherished deeply

As I sat there gloating on my high horse about how I was so lovely, beautiful, worthy, and cherished, a soft voice in my head said, ‘So is he.’

‘Huh? So is who?’ I asked Soft Voice.

‘So is he, the one who called you those things this morning.’

Ouch. There it was - the dagger that blindsided me. The inescapable truth, that I really am no better than that customer who insulted me, and no less loved by the same Heavenly Father. While it was good to be
reminded of my true identity after being thrown insults and lies, what I really had to remember was that I share that identity with this person who had insulted me, and with everyone else that I come across
in my daily life.

What’s really funny, though, is when I rewind to two days before that unforgettable phone call: I had made a resolution at small group that I would love every customer I dealt with, and pray a blessing over the ones who were especially difficult to love.

So, here we go … (deep breath):

Lord, bless that customer. May he come to know his true identity in you. Transform his heart as you fill it with Your love, and transform his lips so that they will be filled with messages of love and truth to
others. Amen.