By James Dodwell - Hammers of Hope
Good Morning
The school year is nearing closing for the 2015/16 season.
This is a wonderful time for children to be set free to play and relax for a
few weeks while their parents worry about what they are doing during the day at
home, alone. One good thing about our children being in school, we know where
they are for those few hours each day and that hopefully, they are doing
something productive, hopefully. The thing I use to dread was the start of the
school year and all the neighborhood children turn into mini salespersons. You
know the drill, funds raisers for this and that, but each and every one of them
that ring our door bell has a sure sell. There are three reasons I don’t refuse
them, one, they are on an important mission, in their minds, which is important
for us adults to support, two, who can refuse those precious little smiling
faces, politely saying yes-sir and yes-mam while wrapping you around their
finger getting what they want, and three, it’s payback to all the other parents
in the neighborhood who supported our son during those years.
“When will the madness end?” I ask myself. We have bought
cases of expensive water, jump rope jumps, cookie dough, cow patty bingo event
tickets, which I have never witnessed, and never will, band calendars, Boston
butts, wrapping paper, chances on large amounts of money, bar-b-que dinners,
chicken mostly, and numerous other things to support our neighborhood children
and schools. I really don’t expect the madness to end; I actually hope it never
does, because it provides a moment in their lives to brighten their day with
the sell and a moment in our lives to feel we have done something
worth-while. Writing this reminds me of a story I heard about the world’s
greatest salesman:
A man walks into an insurance office and asks for a job. "Sorry, we don't need anyone..." they replied, "You can't afford not to hire me. I can sell anyone anything anytime!" "Well, we have two prospects that no one has been able to sell. If you can sell just one, then you have a job." He was gone about two hours and returned and handed them two checks, one for $25,000 and another for $50,000. "How in the world did you do that?" they asked. "I told you I'm the world’s best salesman; I can sell anyone anything, anytime!" "Did you get a urine sample?" they asked him. "What's that?" he asked. "Well, if you sell a policy over $20,000 the company requires a urine sample. Now take these two bottles and go back and get urine samples." He was gone about 8 hours and the office was about to close, when in he walks in with two five gallon buckets, one in each hand. He sets the buckets down and reaches in his shirt pocket and produces two bottles of urine and sets them on the desk and says, "Here's Mr. Jones’s and this one is Mrs. Johnson's." "That's good," they said, "but what's in those two buckets?" "Well, I passed by the school house and they were having a state teachers convention - so I stopped and sold them a group policy!"
If you think about it, we are all salespeople. Each day we
have to reprove ourselves to someone new. These new people know very little
about us. They see the outside, dressed nice, looking sharp, but they can’t see
the inside which could be something entirely different. Our walk, our words and
our actions either reveal our inner most being as a positive, bright, well
dressed person matching our exterior or a negative, dull, poorly dressed person
completely the reverse of the persona we are emanating on the outside. Which
persona is more attractive, more magnetic, and most likely the one who will
make the buyer want to listen to our sales pitch?
The disciples, if you think about it, were a group of
misfits, fishermen, lawyers, tax collectors… no one trusted or looked up too,
but Jesus saw something in them and lead them out of the negative, dull, poorly
dressed existence they had within. He changed them, moved them into a new realm
of words and actions. They became lovers of people, sharing His message of
faith, hope, joy and love. They became risk takers, risking their lives to
spread the gospel and the truth, sharing the Good News with everyone. They
became tireless workers, laborers for Jesus, praying unceasingly for the people
to know God and to share in His blessing of eternal life. They became servant
leaders, ministers, messengers, doing the work that no one else would by being
of service to others; a “salesperson” sharing the Good News, if you will allow
the play on words.
I encourage all of us to become the best “salesperson” we
can become as we serve others, lift others up, and offer our life as an example
of a brother, sister, fellow worker, fellow soldier, messenger and minister. It
will not only show we have faith, hope, joy and love for others; it will make a
difference in our life and the lives of others. Philippians 2:25-30
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