This Simple Thing You Can Bless People with Today

It has to do with cheeseburgers, so you know this is going to be a happy story.

There’s a small church in Libby, Montana that has been without a pastor since April, so that man of mine is giving them a five-week run of preaching on Sundays, to give them a boost. We do Saturday night church, so he is free to hop in the car and gift a church with the good news for a few weeks.

Libby Montana is an hour and a half away from Kalispell, along a beautiful, windy stretch of narrow highway that is listed in the top five most dangerous highways in the United States. Yesterday, though, it was an avenue of fall colors and blue mountain lakes.

And 567 deer, which looked so beautiful in the landscape, as long as they stayed in the meadows and weren’t trying to meet up with our front grill.

So Matt preached yesterday, in a small-town church that is packed full of people who love Jesus. Then we climbed back in the car and made a stop at Burger Express.

“I think we’re going to have to eat there every week,” he told me last night.

I agreed, and we started talking about what a bright, fun little burger joint it is. Of course, they serve tacos, too. And chicken.

But it’s the burgers we’re going back for, and when we’ve had our fill of a quarter pounder with cheese melting off the sides, then we might have just enough room to go to the Billy Goat ice cream bar that’s in the same restaurant.

I ordered a baby cone yesterday, because I’m not much of an ice cream girl (can you still like me?) That cone was a large tower of soft-serve vanilla.

“Wow, that’s the baby cone?” Matt said.

But here’s what I have to tell you. We can’t wait to go back to Burger Express for three more weeks in a row, because the people who work there are so cheerful. I mean, it’s just a small-town burger joint and ice cream bar. It could be one of those dead-end jobs where the help seems underpaid and under-appreciated.

But they are so smiley behind the counter, and it’s like they’ve been waiting to see us all week.

“We have to go back there just because of how nice they are,” Matt said. And I think you can only appreciate that statement if you know how much this man loves a good burger.

The best marketing tools, kindness and cheerfulness, have won us over.

In his letter to the Roman believers, Paul makes a statement:

God’s kindness leads you toward repentance.

Kindness is always the best draw. It’s the friendly face and cheerful, welcoming demeanor that bring people back for a burger and that draw our hearts toward God.

So just think about the power you have in kindness. You may not feel like much of a person, but your kind, cheerful demeanor will have a lasting effect on all the people who cross paths with you today. And by greeting the people in your life with glad eyes (it starts in the eyes, by the way), you are sharing with them the good news of God’s own kindness.

Take a minute to think about the person in your life who is most consistently kind and cheerful toward you. How does that demeanor affect you when you see him or her? Now imagine yourself touching someone else with that same goodness.

Warm smiles, everyone.