Servants, I Have Many!

She gives food to her household and an allotted share to her maidens. Proverbs 31:15

I managed a women clothing store for two years. It was an interesting experience to say the least. There was a lot of butt checking, arm wiggling, and tummy tucking. There was a great deal of comments like, “I’d never wear that” and  “But you should…”

During my time there, my little store did fashion shows. We would take eight volunteers and dress them up in three different outfits each and then allow them to parade through a crowd of other women who were all wishing they knew how to put together outfits like these. We all had a good time. At the beginning of the fashion show all the newly named models were prim and proper. Buy round two, a few began to sashay. And on the final round, there was undoubtably be one or two who felt the need to show off their chorus line moves. It was all great fun.

One of the last events that I did was for a large… as not to offend anyone, lets say… Organization. It’s one of those Organization where large numbers of people go on a Sunday morning and fewer attend Organizational Meetings throughout the week. These newly named models who attend this Organization unanimously won the ‘nastiest group we’ve ever encountered’ award. It was a new award as we had never needed it before.

As a writer, I could go in many different directions with this topic. But the one that blasted like a fog horn in my ears is taken from a Proverb called the Virtuous Woman. It’s the famous one; where the woman gets up before dawn, is wise in her business dealings, tends to her children’s needs for which they in-turn rise up and call her blessed; all while her well known husband sits at the city gates. Ya, that one.

There is a one liner in this well known Proverb that tells us this rare woman cares for her servants. Most of us would say we don’t have servants but would admit we would like a few.

I consider this question of who are our servants and realized they are all around us.

I believe its the person who checks me out at the grocery store, or the teacher who spends eight hours a day with my grandchildren. It’s the kid who takes my dry cleaning and young women who writes down my order and dutifully serves me my food. It’s the guy who has been assigned to answer my customer service call, and the barista who hands me my latte. These are my modern day servants. According to this Proverb, I need to care for my servant’s needs and watch out for their wellbeing.

How do I do that from the other side of the counter? That’s simple. It’s with kindness, gentleness and self-control. Be gracious. Be complimentative. Be present for them in the few short moments you are together. Making their life, day, or just moment better because they encountered someone who truly cares. Care more about them rather what they can do for you. Do it even when you’ve encountered some of the nastiest people ever.

I remind myself every day that I am to care for my servants, no matter where they work. After all, my children need a reason to call me blessed and my husband needs something to talk about while he sits all day at the gate.