“Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love.”
–Mother Theresa
She comes in every morning at 10:30ish a.m. I’ve come to recognize the unique “ding” of the door as she enters; quick and cheery. Her indigo mail bag weighted down and tossed over her shoulder, her canvas jacket of the same color trimmed with only the USPS patch. If you catch her on a day that’s nippy, you’ll get to see a woolen toboggan on top her head, pulled down almost to her eyebrows.
But that toboggan doesn’t cover her eyes. Her squinty smiling eyes that never once have I seen with a fog of sadness dimming the sparkle.
She always smiles with a wide grin when she enters, with a “Good morning!” in her endearing Chinese accent. Sometimes you’ll get the treat of hearing her chuckle as she mentions the weather or at my comments on how heavy her bag must be.
Her job is a simple one; delivering mail to each business up and down main street. A mundane one; she does it every single day, rain or shine. One that rarely is taken notice of; how often do you think to thank the person who delivers your mail everyday?
All these would be grounds to complain, but that doesn’t stop her cheerfulness in it’s tracks. She does her job with peppy excellence, regardless how her day is going she makes it her mission to brighten others, not only with her packages but also her attitude!
I can’t help but smile every time she leaves the shop! In the 30 seconds she’s inside it’s like the clouds break and her sunniness exudes, even long after she leaves there are traces of it’s beams.
It’s one of the highlights of my day, greeting her and getting to be on the receiving end of such a winsome personality!
Makes me realize, do I take as much joy in my work as she? Do I see purpose even in the seemingly small, the mundane and the unchanging?
I can learn so much from her example, this simply city mail lady, who does small things with great love.
“Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will
prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach
in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear
as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ
I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain or toil in vain.
But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service
of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all.
You too, I urge you, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me.”
– P h i l l i p i a n s 2 : 14-16
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