Reason for routine

There are certain elements of my life that are rather routine, even outside of my daily working schedule. On Sunday mornings, I go to Starbucks before church, and Firehouse for lunch after church. On Thursday mornings I go to Starbucks on the way to work.

I go to the same Tom Thumb almost every week, and at least once a week I go to the same Kroger on the way to work. If I stop at the gas station on the way to school, it's the same one. I'm quite the Chik-fil-a afficionado, so both of the ones in town are frequented by me, and they know me and my dog.

I have a reason for this, but I don't always think of it. I was reminded today, when the girl at Firehouse asked me if I'd cut my hair. The girl behind the counter at Firehouse noticed, and people I interact with on a weekly and sometimes daily basis don't even notice. My sister hasn't even said anything about my hair yet. But the girl behind the counter at Firehouse did.

I cannot save the world. I cannot solve my own problems some days, much less the problems of the world. I'm not sure I can make a huge difference in the world as we know it, and I can't heal the broken pieces of the world when I'm so broken myself.

But I can offer a moment of peace and a kind word every time I go in a store. I can be pleasant and nice and look them in the eye and thank them and mean it. And when I go again and again, they begin to know me and expect it, and we begin to form a relationship. They may never know I am a Christian, but they know I am a good person, that always shows them respect and grace. And I hope that they guess I am, instead of the other way around.