Brenda and I ventured out and tried a little off the beaten path cafe where the reviews were favorable. We walked into the small modestly decorated, but clean cafe. We were the only customers. An elderly man with a friendly face greeted us and showed us to our seats. We both ordered breakfast burritos. We chatted over bacon, egg, potato and cheese burritos. They were fantastic. I would tell you the name of the place, but I do not remember it myself.
I struck up a conversation with the elderly man when we paid. I introduced myself and Brenda and he told us his name was Daniel. Earlier he gave us two options for salsa for our meals. One was definitely hotter than the other. He asked which I used and I told them both. He looked surprised and over my shoulder asking did you drink all your water. We both chuckled because I drank my water and part of Brenda's. He is the owner with this wife of that establishment.
He said something that stuck with me. He reported how when he first got married his wife asked how he liked his eggs cooked. He told her it did not matter to him as long as she cooked them with love. He told us they cook their food for the customers with love. Those burritos are so good I woke up today thinking about them. It is because they were cooked with love.
What if we adopted Daniel's attitude about our work? What if we did everything on our jobs with love? The Bible exhorts us to do that in Colossians 3:23. We are to do our work heartily as unto the Lord and not men. We are to sweep floors with love giving our best effort. If we mow the lawn, we should put our whole heart into it with love to please the Lord. If we are students, we should study and do our work with love giving our absolute best. If we wait on customers at a store or wait tables, we should do it with love. If we teach, coach, nurse, wait tables, weld, ranch, or farm we should do our work with love.
When our four sons were little Brenda assigned me breakfast duties. I came up with some creative concoctions. My favorite was hot dog alaespecial. Chopped up hot dogs in scrambled eggs. We rotated between pancakes, breakfast burritos, cinnamon rolls, pigs in a blanket, biscuits, sausage, and eggs. They often asked me why it tasted so good. I told them it was because I cooked it with love. Just like Daniel and his wife.
What if people really put love into their work. No matter if it is a prestigious job or a lowly one. Work would be done more joyfully, energetically, and with more excellence. People act like they should give minimal effort if the pay is minimal. We are challenged to give our best. To treat work like an offering of worship to the Lord. He sees when others do not notice. I noticed Daniel yesterday, even though his cafe is small, and serves few customers. He does his work heartily with love and for that reason we will eat their again soon. May we all follow Daniel's example and do our work with love.
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