My dad

My dad has a cool job. He gets to travel and meet lots of new people in many walks of life, all the while just being himself and spreading the love of Jesus to whoever he encounters. He wears his BGCT logo shirt, or uses his BGCT credit card, or tells people what he does for a living, and they pay attention to how he lives, acts, and speaks. He always tries to be extra courteous to wait-staff in restaurants, since he knows (from my experience!!) that waiters typically view the "church-crowd" as cheap and difficult. He likes to change the stereotype, when possible.

The dealership where he just bought his truck let him rent a car to go on a business trip this week while they painted the stripe on his truck. They didn't charge him for the rental! When he returned the car, he mentioned to the guy that it rained really hard and one of the floormats had gotten wet, so they should dry it out and not let it mildew. The guy returned a few minutes later, saying, "I can't believe what you did to that car.." My dad got worried until the guy explained. He couldn't believe that he brought back the loaner car with a full tank of gas. My dad just figured it was the courteous thing to do, since they had loaned him the car for free. Most people return the free-loaners running on fumes. So the guy was really impressed by that seemingly-simple gesture. He had a saying: The three worst types of people to deal with are painters, prostitutes, and preachers! So he was shocked that my dad was representing himself with such good values.

I think this goes back to my grandparents, and how they raised my dad and his sister, and the example they set and the love they have bestowed on our family. But it also shows the power we have to influence the lives of the people we encounter.

Maybe that was the last time that guy will think that "preachers" are bad to deal with. Either way, I bet he will never forget my dad, which (hopefully) means he will not forget about his own Heavenly Father.