£2 for your smile, or simple ways to shepherd one another - One Meaningful Thing I Did Today (30-day challenge)

Catchy title, isn't it? :) These days I'm more and more before the Lord concerning my blog since the last thing I want it to be is "an outlet of Stefan". We all - and especially me - have so much STUFF to talk about! We can say so many things, we can give our opinion on so many topics, we can comment on the current events and the state of the nation, etc. We know a lot, and the more we grow in the human life, the more we are taught to think for ourselves, "be ourselves", express ourselves, etc... but NO, I don't want this blog to be my expression, something "of me"....

But what would this blog express? Since it's a 30-day challenge with, "One Meaningful Thing I Did Today" - isn't it about ME? O Lord.... I want to learn to deny myself, put the Lord first, and allow Him to saturate me and permeate me to such an extent that my expression is actually His expression, my experience daily is experiencing Christ in my human life, and even my words would be words that convey Christ and not myself... I hope and pray that the reading of these articles would encourage everyone not to "wonder who this guy is" or "how bad a person he is", etc - but to cause you to love the Lord more and seek Him more! Which brings me to the topic today,

£2 for your smile, or simple ways to shepherd one another - One Meaningful Thing I Did Today

Nope, it's not me in the picture :) 

Today the story is about someone that had a haircut! Finally, I went and had a haircut - I've been thinking to do that for a while now. But it's interesting what happened - I got into the hairdressing place and I asked how long will they still be open(since it was almost 6.20pm). The guy there said it was until 7pm, and then I went on and said, "OK, I'll just go and get some cash out, then come back and get a haircut". No, he said, just come in I'll give you a haircut and you can give me the money later. I have never met or seen this guy before, and he had no idea who I am, but he was OK to give me a haircut - counting on the fact that one day I will come and pay him back!

This warmed up my heart. I don't know how your day was, but sometimes things pile up on you, don't go the way you think they should go, you have to deal with an increasingly amount of stress or customer care, orders, etc... - no complaining, just that daily there's a thing called, "the wearing out tactics of the enemy"... And out of all the people in the world, this particular hairdresser, in his 40s, managed to make me smile :) I sat on the chair, found out he is from Kosovo (and I'm from Romania), he came here a very long time ago, etc. We had a nice conversation, he gave me a nice haircut, and since I had only £6 with me - and the fee was £8 - he said, Whenever you come by, just bring me the change, when you have time. This is where the "£2 for your smile" comes from :)

I was walking home and thanking the Lord for shepherding me in such a way, and I realized the second part of the title, "simple ways to shepherd one another". We think that in order to "shepherd the saints" or to "take care of others" we need to be trained, qualified, mature, etc. But all it takes is to be open to the Lord and cooperate with Him to meet others' needs even in a human way. Someone is hungry or thirsty, and you get him a drink / something to eat. You sense someone's need and then, in prayer before the Lord, you cooperate with the Lord to meet that need. And it's these little things, the small things, that not only "bring a smile on your face", but they also encourage you to go on with the Lord and in your Christian life.

A simple text message or an email to one of your contacts can encourage him / her. Just saying HI to someone who doesn't usually talk to you after the meeting, or "meeting someone half-way" by taking the first step to talk to someone after the meeting / after class - shepherds others! Take a young brother the Lord put on your heart out for dessert or visit someone at home with your companion - you "waste your time" on the saints to spend time with them, and you can gain the Lord! I was so surprised to find out how much my heart was warmed up after this person, by all outward means an unbeliever(but a loving father to his kids), shepherded me in this way.

This is something that the Lord Jesus does towards us - He meets us where we are, and He surprises us with these little gestures, these little things, through which He just shows us how much He loves us! Sometimes He may expose us and allow us to make a mistake, but when we return to Him He is so loving and forgiving! He who is forgiven much loves much - so we just love the Lord! At other times the Lord, through people or the environment or even the weather, just shepherds us and brings us on with Him. THIS ONE IS IN US, and as we are around people and around saints, we can also be in this way!

I am NOT good at this. I may be inclined towards, "Let's do this!", or, "help me do that", but what if I would really listen to someone and find out his real need + bring this to the Lord? The Lord is the most attentive One, being intimately and kindly interested in us and our needs. He in us can do it towards the young ones, towards our workmates, towards our fellow students, and towards our family members! Even giving a little attention to the smallest members of our families will make them happy. In the church life we need to minister Christ to one another - and we do this by learning to shepherd one another and care for one another to make others' heart happy in the Lord first...

Lord, we want to learn to care for others in simple ways and simple things - to warm up their heart and give them something of Christ in the Word for You to grow in them and have Your way! We don't know how, we may not be too available in our being for this, or we may not even be willing - but Lord, we give ourselves to You to be shepherded by You and for You to shepherd others through us!

One Meaningful Thing Today: Customer Service Done Properly (30-day challenge)

Since one of our workmates is off on holiday to Poland (where I was a few weeks ago) and since the company I work for is a small company, we all felt it! It's August, and it's supposed to be a "dead month", everyone's in holiday, no one is shopping for lights or switches... but no, today especially the phone kept ringing and ringing! We did our best to cope with the situation, but there were a few cases today that we missed some calls - we were too busy with so many things to be done! ... anyways, this is a glimpse of things going on at where I work, which brings me to,

One Meaningful Thing Today:
Customer Service Done Properly!

I was NOT trained in customer service, but since I manage the online store I'm supposed to "know everything about every product on the website", so I also take calls from customers, helping them, especially when it comes to placing orders online, finding products online, browsing, issues with the payments or the website, etc. Anyways, today there were a few customers that simply called in, asked questions and, before I could even answer their question, they answered their own question and thanked me! How cool is that!

But this is not the Customer Service Done Properly I wanted to talk about - no, what I discovered today is that it's one word: LISTEN! We are all so full of ideas, opinions, feelings, moods, issues, and all other stuff. So when a customer calls, the best thing you can do is to LISTEN! And today it happened that this is what I did - I simply listened to this particular customer! Since the online stores and the online stuff is sometimes abstract and not-so-obvious, many times most people need help - at least they need assistance. Even in a physical superstore you need an assistant to show you where stuff is!

This particular customer was on the phone with me for at least 15 minutes, and most of the time I was listening to her going through the steps that the website indicated, clicking, entering data, card details, etc - I was just indicating small things here and there, "guiding her". But the key is that I was not "rushing her" - I simply listened and sometimes said something. It happened to me before several times - especially with elderly customers - that all we needed to do is to "assist" them and they would know how to do it! Most young customers are rushing, they think they know, they mess up, and they still blame us! This is not a stereotype, it's just something we as young ones tend to do! This particular customer eventually placed the online order and gave me a warm "thank you for your time, I really appreciate that! I will recommend you to my friends..."

This is NOT an add for the company I work, but a random story of a meaningful thing I did today - I listened to a customer and guided her, for an extended time over the phone, to place an order online on our website. The key: LISTEN. Now to the REAL side of the story - all the physical and outward things can have principles for life behind them, even spiritual principles. Here's at least 2 such principles I saw here:

• I need to learn to LISTEN to people - listen to the ones around me, to the saints, to my co-workers, to the ones in my vital group, to my siblings and family members, to everyone who happens to be around me and is somehow related to me. Yes, sometimes I can help or I can get help, but listening is most important. Watchman Nee said that the first characteristic of a servant of the Lord is that he is perfected and trained to LISTEN(to the Lord, to the saints, to the Spirit within, to the Lord's speaking, and to the people) (in, The Character of the Lord's Worker).
• When we come to the Lord, HE LISTENS TO US! This is our experience - we come to Him with all our problems, situations, cares, woes, tears, persons, relationships, disappointments, etc, and He listens to us, takes our burden upon Himself... He doesn't stop us to speak, He is not impatient, and He doesn't straight ahead rebuke us or turn His back on us. Sometimes He speaks to us, but most times He gives us the sense of life and peace, and He listens + comforts us / cares for us with His presence...

Lord, make me one who learns to LISTEN to people and LISTEN to the Lord! Which reminds me, maybe I should listen to the Lord right now and stop :) But not before I invite YOU - the reader - to leave your thoughts and comments below. What do you think? I know I have not explored in-depth what customer care means, but I hope you have a better experience or something that you think it would help me / others... :)