Growth Through Customer Service

I saw a truck the other day.  It was emblazoned with these profound words on it's shiny white tailgate:

                                              Growth through customer service.

I am not sure why it stuck with me as it did, but I am convinced that when such a nothing thing as a small town marketing slogan painted across the back of a business truck continues to speak long after it should, I should trust that God is up to something.  Wanting to teach me something in the words.  Or maybe in the meaning.

Later, as I dash in doors and out of doors, I jot above said slogan in my journal.  Anticipating a response from God - a teaching moment from the One who holds the whole earth together - it leaves me breathless.

I have a tendency to begin to try  figuring it out on my own.  But like the sun on a summer day, the truth appears in  my mind and then dances behind clouds, one moment clear as the blue sky and the next casting shadows where the light once was.  And so I remind myself to wait and watch.  In His time.

During the holidays, always on the tip of my tongue rolls the phrase "customer service is dead".  Long lines, temporary employees who miss the training day on greetings, or even worse - the dreaded call to computer tech support, all point to the lack of true service in my little world.  I know lots of places that will never grow at this rate.

But today.  Today I noted, probably years after those who work in the "real world", that we customers have our own set of problems.  Apparently the delay in lines at wholesale clubs turn otherwise gentile grandmothers into hotheads who demand that checkouts be done in appropriate order.  Blushing college students scanning oversize jars of spaghetti sauce wonder at the hurry of one who seems long past the days of punching a time clock.  I wouldn't normally say anything rings hollow as one who seems she has had more practice at demanding tones than she would like others to think.  Her husband's chagrined look only adds to the truth that this is not the first occurrence of such an event.

Growth through customer service.

As a Christian, one called to take up my cross daily, what role do I play in this dance between serving and being served?

I evaluate my relationships - with God and man - am I a customer?  Or am I a servant?
Has it become "all about me" without really meaning to do so?

I dwell on the role of the church:  is the church a place where I go to be served?  Or to learn how to serve?

If I am called to be a servant, then wouldn't this mean that my growth - my daily dying to self and walking closer to Christ - comes through service?

I wish that I could say the sun is shining brightly on this truth and it is now wrapped up neatly in the practice of my daily life.
It's not.
God is still speaking and teaching.
And as I have said, this is my place of working all that out.
And I believe He would use you to add to the story, so feel free to add your thoughts.

Guest Blog at Through A Photographer's Eyes

I am completely humbled to be sharing a fresh word God spoke into my life over at Misty's blog this morning.  This is my first time to guest blog for anyone and I am nervous beyond belief.  Thanks, Misty, for opening the opportunity for this blogging newbie to share.  I pray that it gives God a huge ovation.

Five Minute Friday - Vivid

Vivid.
Paul says that ministry is given.
I forget that and live my life sometimes as if ministry is a burden that I carry.
Not just ministry meaning paid, vocational work at the church building on the church budget for church people.
I mean living my life as a ministry of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Living the testimony that God is who He says He is.
I live that in a drudging shade of gray.  Something I must do as opposed to something I am compelled to do.
The world that we live in is a shade of gray.  It is the foreshadow of things to come.  It is not the goal.  It is not the end.  This is not my home.
I long to live my life in vivid color.  Not carrying the back-breaking load of daily life, but turning my chin towards the heaven and my focus towards the One who has given everything for me.
I think about Paul (when he was Saul) and how he had to go blind for a time to be able to truly see.
God, blind me to the things of this world and the burdens I carry, so that when I open my eyes I see only the vivid color of Your presence.
My precious Gran has macular degeneration.  I have been on a quest to find things that help her see more clearly.  I bought a light bulb yesterday called a "full spectrum" bulb.
God, I want to see the full spectrum in vivid color.

I am sharing my word of the year today over at The Lettered Cottage.
Why?
Not to drive traffic to my blog.  (It's read and enjoyed by virtually no one but me and occasionally my mother.)
Not because it is anything profound to the world.

I am sharing it because I need the accountability that stems from saying to the world "God has called me to pursue love this year."  There is something about putting words to the feelings that roll in your spirit.  It makes them real.  Not just some fuzzy memory come the hot days of August when January and it's newness seem forever ago.

And so, in sharing it there I am reminding myself in the form of a link and a thumbnail picture that God did call me to pursue love this year of 2012.  And while I understand that I will fail time and time again, I am becoming convinced that the real failure is in not trying at all.  In a practical sense, I am going to schedule a day each month to review my word.  I mean I am putting it on my calendar every month.  And on that day, I will evaluate my obedience and my shortcomings.  I would encourage fellow "wordies" to do the same.  It will be a great way to hold each other accountable to follow through, not just declarations.

AWAKE

Awake - to come or bring to an awareness; become cognizant

Almost seventeen years ago, I became aware that God had a plan for me.  I had spent quite a few years following my own path.  It really wasn't working.  In some ways it looked alright.  But for the most part it was empty.  Always a struggle.  Always missing something.  The sad part was that I knew better.  God had been a part of my life for years - a part.  It was all those years ago that I began to look for ways to make Him more than just a piece.  

As I pray for my children this morning, I pray that they become fully AWAKE to the plans God has for them much earlier than I did.  It will save them so much emptiness and searching.

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. Most important: comment and encourage the person who linked up before you.

Finding my pace

I can appreciate that some people do not like to cook.
I do not like to garden.
I tried it.  When we got married and moved into our home, I immediately planted roses.  My mother grew beautiful roses.  Wives were supposed to grow beautiful roses.
So I cajoled my sweet man into digging up a rose bed and proceeded to spend way too much money for a newly married couple on rose plants.
I learned something about myself.
I do not like to garden.
When it is hot and humid outside(which is frequently here in TN), I prefer the swimming pool or at the very least the air conditioning. It is hard to tend your roses from either of those places.
I gave up gardening.
Sometimes I forget that I don't like it and I do something ridiculous.  Like plant something.
It never ends well.

But cooking...
There I find my pace.

I have felt like God's Word to me this year was to pursue love.

My problem is that in pursuing a Godly marriage, ministry, parenting, a clean house, folded laundry - I forget to pursue love.
Until I slow down and begin to mix the ingredients for a blueberry scone.  For no reason except that I have some blueberries going south quickly and I don't like wasting food.
So, with worship music cranked loud and kitchen warm from preheating oven, I bake.  And I slow down to pray for people - for soldiers who are recovering, friends who are waiting, people who are searching.  As the butter meets the flour and the songs fill my house, I slow down and do the act of love that is most beneficial - I lift my soul to the Only One who is my Help.

                 He on whom we have set our hope.  And He will yet deliver us... 2 Corinthians 1:10

And the beauty of frozen, grated butter meets with the lyrics of a song that played from my daddy's radio years ago

Why me Lord

What have I ever done to deserve even one

Of the pleasures I've known

Tell me Lord

What did I ever do that was worth love from you

Or the kindness you've shown

Lord help me Jesus I've wasted it so

Help me Jesus, you know what I am

Now that I know that I've needed you so

Help me Jesus my soul's in your hands

Try me Lord

If you think there's a way I can ever repay what I've taken from you

Maybe Lord

I can show someone else what I've learned myself

On my way back to you

Lord help me Jesus I've wasted it so

Help me Jesus, you know who I am

But now that I know that I've needed you so

Help me Jesus my soul's in your hands

Help me Jesus my soul's in your hands

David Crowder Band - Why Me?

And the tears pour down my face because that is me:  undeserving of His pleasures and His love. 

And I pray that as I meet this year of pursuing love that I could show someone else what I have learned myself.

I challenge you to find the thing that helps you slow your pace and turn your face toward heaven.  Have you found it?

Let all that you do

I still had the questions from yesterday living in my head as I  picked up my Bible study this morning.  In our Friday Bible study group, we are completing an inductive study on 1 Corinthians.

The last chapters of Paul's letters are always so full of good stuff.  It's as if he knows he only has a small window of time left to speak to them, so he rattles off these bullet points of things he wants them to remember and practice.  (Sometimes they are just practical - like asking for his coat.)

I shared last week that I sensed God calling me to focus on love this year.  It should not have shocked me to read these words this morning as I went to God for wisdom

 God, my prayer is that this year I could practice this verse.  Pursue this living of a life of love.  Run after this idea that ALL I do can and should be done in love.
Study because of love.
Teach because of love.
Serve because of love.
Do laundry because of love.
Blog because of love.

One of the questions in the study (written by Kay Arthur) was "What is your foremost passion, your governing ambition?  How do you show it in your daily walk?"

Yesterday I confessed that affirmation from others was a driving force in my life.  Today I am challenged by the Spirit of God to make love the passion of my life.  In all that I do.

How would you answer that question?

I have a cookbook called "A Passion for Baking".  (It's a great resource, by the way.)

And I found myself wondering about passion today.  I mean,
    passion    
  for baking?

That's some strong wording for flour and water.

Sometimes I wish that I could be really great at one thing.  Really passionate about one thing.  Instead, I find myself dabbling in lots of things.  Is that really profitable?  What would I leave in the dust?  What things would I choose to go all out for?  What would determine my success in those areas?  Is passion always rewarded?

My desk is evidence of my dabbling.  There are supplies for this coming Sunday's teaching, my camera and extra lens, a heart given to me by a high school girl from small group, a sander my man bought me for Christmas, several things that I am working on for my children, a card I am designing for a client.  I could go on and on.  They are very neatly organized and attended to very orderly.  But am I all "in" any of them?  Is it even possible?

I think about the story in the Bible of the "Rich Young Ruler".  Jesus told him the importance of putting aside his riches to follow after the only One who could truly satisfy.  The Bible says the ruler was sad because he had lots of possessions.  I read that story and feel so sorry for the obviously immature young man.  How could he walk away from Jesus in favor of his things?

But has my dabbling become a modern-day form of the same distractions?  Doing everything and yet missing the point?

Maybe it is not about the amount of things I do, but where I find my worth.

I spend a lot of energy seeking affirmation.  If I am really good at  _____ then popularity, praise and payment will follow.  You can fill in the blank with any number of projects I have taken on over the years.

What if this year I strive to step away from
  Projects
        Popularity
              Praise
                   Payment
and instead strive for
PASSION
for the Only One who can truly satisfy?

Would you share your thoughts?  

Love and Tears

Tears don't come naturally to me.
I'm really not sure why that is or when it started, but I'm just not a person who cries much.
I have a dear friend who cries frequently.  I joke that she cries enough for both of us.

But twice today I have been caught off-guard by dripping tears down my face.

One was turning in the kitchen to see Sam doing homework at the counter.  Not a profound moment, I realize.  But I remember blogging about his homework struggles at about this same time last year.  In that brief glimpse of time, I saw how much he had matured since then.  And I caught a picture of what I might be thinking at this time next year, when we are staring down the throat of high school graduation and, gulp, college.

So, as if one cry wasn't bad enough, as I sat down to catch up on some reading at my computer, my ears told me to stop and listen.  Kate was sitting at the piano playing "My Favorite Things" from the Sound of Music.  It had the pauses of a student learning a new piece, but chills came over me and, yes, tears streamed down my cheeks.  One day, that piano will sit silent as my young girl becomes a young woman and leaves such things as piano lessons and her mother's heart in the dust.

Paul says that Love is patient.
Maybe that doesn't just mean that Love endures difficulties.
Maybe it also means that Love slows down to enjoy the moments of life that are too quickly fleeting.  Some of those moments are hidden behind difficulties.  Some are hidden behind dirty dishes.  Pursuing Love might mean  taking on the sometimes strenuous task of looking thoughtfully at the life God has graced me with and seeing Him at work in me and those around me.

And worshiping Him with my tears.

Cranberry Crockpot Meatballs

Cranberry Crockpot Meatballs

1 14 ounce can of jellied cranberry sauce

1 12 ounce bottle of chili sauce

1/4 cup brown sugar

approximately 50 meatballs

 Turn the crockpot to high and dump the cranberry sauce, chili sauce and brown sugar in the pot.

 

Stir those ingredients to combine.  At this point, you could also add in some pineapple juice, apple juice, maple syrup or other flavor.  I had none of these, so mine are going to be the basic recipe which is yummy on it's own.

Now pour in your meatballs and stir gently to coat them with the jellied-goodness.

Put the lid on your crockpot and cook for at least an hour, but honestly you can go as long as you need.  Just be sure to check on your meatballs and turn the crockpot down if necessary.  If they seem to be getting too sticky, you can add in some liquid to loosen them up again.

These meatballs are great over rice if you need a quick meal or you can serve them up with some toothpicks as individual appetizers.  I hope you enjoy.

Paul opens the fourteenth chapter of Corinthians with these words:  "Pursue love".

I am not sure what that means in a practical sense.

What does it look like to pursue love in my relationship

    with God?

             with my husband?

                    with my children?

                            with my friends?

                                      with my church?

                                             

Pinterest

Approaching a New Year

I confess that I have a love/hate relationship with the week between Christmas and the New Year.

Mostly hate.

Am I the only person who spends this week evaluating my life and believing that everything needs a serious upgrade for the new year?

That all things are possible?

Last year at this time, I thought I would take a picture and post it everyday.  I think that lasted about fifty days.

This morning, I am convinced that I should set up an online calendar system for my whole family to use.

What is the balance between striving to be a better person and wasting time on mundane goals that don't profit anything?

I long to hear God's voice over my life during this season.  What would He want from me this next year?  How can I grow to look more like Him - not just more organized.  Or thinner.  Or happier.  Or popular.

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Chair

I have been reading so much about Annie Sloan Chalk Paint lately that I wanted to give it a whirl.
There are only two places in Tennessee that carry it.  I purchased my at The Back Porch Mercantile located in a store called Ironic in Knoxville, Tennessee.  It's a great store with lots of fun metal pieces.  (I should have taken some pictures, but I am sure to return, so that's for later.)
You must know that I am really good at buying lots of new craft products for a great project, only to let them sit around unused.  I give you my 365 photo project as example 'A'.  (Once I decided I wanted to quilt.  That didn't work either...)
So knowing this about myself, I purchased only one can of paint and one of the available waxes.  I said "No" to all the lovely colors and chose this shade of blue:

Provence

I have had this chair forever and never done anything with it.

And here it is after painting and waxing:

I can see why everyone is raving about the ASCP. (How cool am I to use the abbreviation?)  It is very easy to work with.  The distressing part was much easier than it is with latex paint.

Now the problem is, everything paintable in my house is going to be blue!

Do you buy tons of supplies for craft projects that you never complete?

Inspired

I have no photo to post today.
I haven't had one for some time now.
But I have a friend who has started writing and his thoughts made me realize how much I missed this online journal.
As if I need another thing to do.

Was my 365-project a failure?
Probably.

I long to not be paralyzed by the possible.
What can you do today (or tomorrow considering the time) that may not turn out perfect, but is better than nothing at all?

pinterest

Day Fifty-Nine

In my mind I have been composing an "I'm sorry" blog post for a few days.
I have been searching for the photo to post.
Rehearsing the words.

I have come to realize it is not the blog I have neglected.
Or the photos.
It's a grateful heart that I have abandoned these last days.

It is in the deliberation of choosing something to capture in pixels that I notice the things around me for which I should be truly grateful - sunrises, chocolate pudding, hard work, technology, growth - none of these profound in their impact, except to remind me how blessed I am.  And by becoming "too busy" to photograph these moments and share my overflowing heart with fellow sojourners I have become too busy to be grateful.

So today I clarify my project goal.  It's not to capture three-hundred-and-sixty-five photos worthy of an Ansel Adams display at a fancy museum.  The goal is not to be "read" by hundreds or discovered as the next best blogger.

No, the goal is to cultivate a thankful heart.

The lens is my ink, for cameras have sensor eyes, and pixels record.  I slide it into a pocket, a thin point-and-shoot, and find another way to chronicle, to force the lids open; another way to receive the moment with thanks reverential...If clinging to His goodness is the highest form of prayer, then this seeing His goodness with a pen, with a shutter, with a word of thanks, these really are the most sacred acts conceivable...the only way to be a woman of prayer is to be a woman of thanks.

How To's Day

The problem:  I needed something (anything!) to hang above the bed in my freshly painted master bedroom.
The challenge:  Come up with something different and inexpensive.
The inspiration:  Thanks to my 365 photo project, tons of unused landscape photos on my hard drive.

I wanted to use a found object of some sort, so I made a trip to my parent's storage building. You can find similar pieces at junk stores, antique markets, yard sales, flea markets or maybe your parent's house!  Be on the look-out for any piece that catches your attention.  This is a method, not a recipe, as the saying goes!(Bonus points if you get it for free or find it in the trash!)
 I found this old wood door.  I liked the lines and it had character.  I also liked that it had four panels.  Did I mention it was free from my parent's house?  Just checking...
The four panels reminded me of the four seasons.  Could I come up with four photos that represented each season?  My wheels were turning!

Back at home I made a quick scroll through my photo organizer.    I came up with about twenty photos that I liked.  However, I must have something against Spring, because there were no photos to represent that lovely season. I ran the Pioneer Woman's black and white action on the seasons that were represented. This way they would look similar in the project. 

Something you must know about me:  I am an obsessive-compulsive, perfectionist who has no patience.  I know, I am a walking oxymoron.  It completely ruins lots of projects.  Waiting on photos to arrive really stretched my limits. 

The first thing I did to the door was give him a quick shop-vac. (Not sure why, but the door is male.)  Don't scrub too hard or you knock off the character!  I just didn't want spider webs hanging above my head.  (That's what corners are for at my house.)  I made a call to my local hardware store and had them cut four pieces of plexi-glass five by seven inches. 
A trip to my guy's workbench turned up eight rusty nails that would look perfect to hold the plexi-glass in place.  (Note to self:  might want to update tetanus shot.)

For my project, I tapped a nail in the bottom and top of each section of the door, right at the place where the plexi-glass edge would be.

See how the plexi-glass slides under the edge of the nail head?  That's what will hold your picture and your covering in place.  So make sure you leave the nail partially out of the wood.  Here's what it looks like with all four pieces in place:

Next was a way to hang the door.  It wasn't too heavy, but I didn't want to run the risk of it falling off the wall onto my head anytime soon.  Remember how I told you about my oxymoronic self?  Well, I refuse to hang anything that requires two nails.  The whole level, straight line thing just baffles me.  I opted instead for two screw eyes on either end and a picture wire stretched between them.  Yes!  One nail!  Instantly straight!

See?  Just twist it in and you are good to go...

Stretch the wire tight and wrap it around itself.  Lift up your piece by the wire to make sure it holds correctly.

(Insert long wait because of snow storm that made my pictures which normally arrive in two days not arrive for six!  Ahhhhhhh!!!!!)

Slide your pictures under the plexi-glass and you have a great picture frame/piece of art! 

Here's mine in it's new home.  Note the missing season of Spring?  I promise as soon as some buttercups or tulips bloom I am going to replace it.



Speaking of which, that's one of the great things about a found piece of art that you create with your own photos.  As you want, you can change out the pictures to reflect the season, your mood or your improved photography skills.

Here are two other found objects that I have used to display photos

An old window...

A piece of iron gate that I've had forever.

 I framed our family's Christmas cards from the last few years and hung them by some string from each of the points. (Don't tell my mom, but I just took this down today...yikes!)

   My next project is a spring mantle, inspired by The Lettered Cottage.  I'll keep you posted!

How do you use your photos?  I hope everyone will share some ideas.  I plan on making a blog book at the end of the year, but why wait?  It's a challenge to get those photos off your computer and into use in your home.  Immediately!

Blessings Friends,

Jennifer 



Monday - Tuesday - Wednesday

Thank you, Tracy.  I needed that.

Here's a couple of quick catch-ups and a more lengthy one:
Day Forty-Five

This is a project I have been working on to hang above the bed in our master bedroom. I found with the 365 project I am ending up with a lot of still life photos that I want to use.  This was a reclaimed wood door that I made into a frame. I plan to do a whole post on how I did it in hopes of getting reposted on

 The Lettered Cottage How To's Day. 

Day Forty-Six

 We are enjoying the sunshine here and so are our cats.

And finally, Day Forty-Seven

Today I received an AARP card in the mail.  And you know what, it made me happy.  Not because I am old enough to be an AARP member - I have several years to wait.  In fact, the small group of high school girls that I lead a Bible study for on Wednesday afternoons were shocked that I was (gasp!) 38!  Now that I think about that for a little while, I'm perplexed, frankly.  Do I not look 38?  Or do they think that 38 is really THAT OLD?  Hmmmm.... I may have to revisit that discussion.

No, the reason getting an AARP card in the mail made me smile was it means I am alive.  Earlier yesterday I received a phone call telling me that an acquaintance had died unexpectedly due to complications during back surgery.  Her son and mine have played sports together for years.  We have gone out to dinner together.  She has been in my home.  She brought Kate presents when she had surgery.  She was my age.  A young mother of three.  A wife.  A talented EMT and teacher.  It is the sort of tragedy that catches your breath.

So yes, AARP people, I am getting older.  And yes, several years from now I will be old enough to carry one of your cards.  And while I am not at that age now, I will treasure your letter because it means that I am alive and as my sweet Grandmother says about growing older, what's the alternative?

I, for one, will breathe today.  And enjoy life.  And try to remember to not get so bogged down in the details that I forget to be thankful for another day. 

Day Forty-Four

Enough said...

Day Forty-Three

Week two of Portuguese class for Kate and her best friends ended with brunch at Noshville. 
How do you say "cream soda" in Portuguese?

Catch-Up Day

Bear with me as I catch up on posting this week's pictures:

Day Forty
Hello, we are the Officer family and we are Hershey's Syrup addicts.  Seriously, how many bottles does one family need?  Apparently at least six.

Day Forty-One
I actually got Sam to help me with some shots for my photography class.  I think he looks so handsome.  Kind of angry, but handsome none the less.

Day Forty-Two

The life of a dog.  Must be nice.