Too Much Trouble

A few weeks ago while our family was at camp, I was designated as the "Sonic drink run" person for the counselors and staff people.  It's an important task, you know......the one who drives to Sonic and gets everyone's preferred soft drink :) so they can have their "fix" for the day.

I had the list of 17 drinks all written out and ready to order on Monday, drove about 20 miles, and placed the drink order. When the Sonic attendant responded, I told her I had a big order and asked if she would rather me just say it or come get the paper with all of it written out.  She said either way was fine, so I requested she come get it.  She wasn't too thrilled when she came to get the order, but I just smiled and said thank you.  I gave a big tip when the drinks were delivered, too!

 Because of the way it was written, when the order arrived, I didn't take time to go through each and make sure they were all there.  I should have.  After returning to camp and giving out the orders, I found out that two drinks were missing - and one of them was my own!  Sad day!  My husband volunteered to go get the two missing drinks that day.

Tuesday another staff member volunteered to go on the "Sonic run", but Wednesday I made the run again. When I ordered, I told the attendant I had the order written out.  She came out to get the order and I asked if they could write the name of the person on the lid because of the mix-up on Monday and added the question, "Is that too much to ask?".  She replied, "Yes, it is, but I'll do it."  I smiled and said thank you, but immediately wrote this on a piece of paper for a future blog post:  TOO MUCH TROUBLE.

The drinks were delivered, I gave a big tip, and thankfully the order was all right.  I told the attendant that she only had to deal with me one more day and that I was sure she'd miss me when I didn't come back.  She smiled and her demeanor seemed to change a bit that day.

Yesterday my daughter saw my little paper note on the dash that said "TOO MUCH TROUBLE" and asked me what it was.  When I told her the story she said, "Oh, for a blog post!"  She knows me too well!  Yep.....a blog post!

Too Much Trouble!  Makes me think....how about you?

What in my life is too much trouble"?  What do people ask of me that I feel is too much trouble"?  Do I make people feel like what they ask of me is too much trouble?  And do I make God feel as if living a Christian life is too much trouble?  What about telling others the GOOD NEWS.....too much trouble?  I hope and pray that the answer to all of these is NO, but I'm sure that at times I live as if the answer is YES.

In the case at Sonic, maybe I was asking a bit much, but I don't think so.  If anything, with the large drink order, I would have thought it would help them keep track, as well.  And customer service (I think, anyway) is about going above and beyond as much as possible or as is feasible and reasonable. If I was an employee that's the kind of employee I would expect to be.  I tipped very well to make up for the trouble if their was any at all.

In serving God, though, nothing we do can be considered too much trouble.  After all, look at everything He has done for us!  He didn't feel like it was too much trouble to save us.  He didn't feel like it was too much trouble to give His only Son as a sacrifice.  Surely it's not too much trouble for me to strive to live a life of service to Him.  Surely it's not too much trouble to follow Jesus.  And certainly it shouldn't be too much trouble to tell others of our hope.....the GOOD NEWS about Jesus Christ!  TOO MUCH TROUBLE?  Not at all!

 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,  because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.

Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.

Romans 14:17-19