Little Miss Sunshine

Dorcas and I were at a print shop in Lima yesterday, trying to have some special promotional cards printed up for our big Christmas series that starts this Sunday.

It was a very frustrating experience.

From the moment we entered the print shop until the moment we left, the young woman at the counter did everything that she could to discourage the sale.

She told us about 100 different times and in about 100 different ways how they couldn't print the promo cards for us. The stock was too heavy. The stock was too glossy. The lettering was not clear enough. There were pixel problems. Her boss was at lunch. So was his assistant. The proof couldn't possibly be done for another day or so. There was no way in the world that they could guarantee that we'd have the cards before Sunday. Etc., etc., etc.

It was a mind-boggling performance!

There we were, trying to hand over a small chunk of the church's money to the young woman in return for a few promo cards, and she was doing all that she could to stuff the money right back in our pockets!

Maybe the young woman was just having a bad day, or maybe she had received some bad news, or was dealing with a bad personal situation, but her customer service skills were among the worst I've ever seen, anywhere in the world.

We even tried to help her out by showing her how it all could be accomplished, and easily so, but all she kept doing was shaking her head and saying no.

Wow.

Her attitude was the pits. Her attitude was costing her employer a lot of money, too.

I wonder how often we are guilty of the same thing.

International ministry is not for the faint of heart. It's filled with roadblocks and potholes, and even James Bond might be fighting against you (read yesterday's "007" blog post for more info). The enemy is going to keep banging you over the head, and trying to get you to throw in the towel, or at least trying to get you to become less effective in your ministry because of a bad attitude.

Charles Swindoll has said, "The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life ... The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day ... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it ... We are in charge of our attitudes."

What has happened to you today? How have you reacted to it? How has your attitude impacted your international ministry today, in either a positive or a negative way?