People

I know them not by name but by drink. It is the "ho-ho mocha" couple, the "Wednesday coffee and cribbage couple", here come the 3 "breves", "moosicano" alert, "extra hot-no froth Vanilla", "large espresso", and "lite white berry". The list goes on. I see there faces and where a name should be, a drink pops into place.
Some I know the actually names of, some I know a small portion of thierlives, and others are too busy for chit-chat. I ask if they want cream, how their day was, and if a receipt is needed. For a minute or two our lives collide.
So often I forget........ I see them only as customers.
They are so much more though! They are people, with stories, hurts, aches, questions, dreams, longings, and hopes.
A friend reminded me of this earlier in the week.
He was sharing about the weeks he spent this summer ministering to Hippies, in the woods at the "rainbow gathering". For a few weeks they served "Jesus rice" free of charge to hundreds of hippies who annually gather at a national park.
In the week long training before hand one of their instructors had reminded them "they're not a ministry, they are people".
So often I view those I work with and those I serve at work as simply another drink or another tip.
But every person is another glimpse of God, they are a one of a kind original work of the master! I see them as just another face(some more frustrating then others), but he see them as precious.
He longs to own their hearts.