I Became a Mama Bear

It is Saturday. I am volunteering in my usual capacity at the family center. Outside, lines of people are here to receive a box of free food. Some people come – not because they are hungry. They come because they are welcome. No one is turned away.

I am in the family center store at my usual post in the jewelry department. A Nordstrom store upgraded and purchased new jewelry cases. They donated their gently used, lighted cases to the family center. What a blessing!

I am going through boxes of jewelry donations. This is my sweet spot. Every item we sell goes to helping people from the streets or wherever. All are welcome. Even well to do folks enjoy coming into the store for “great finds”!

This Saturday, not unlike many Saturdays, I am asked to share a devotion and prayer before our day starts at 10 am inside the store. I share about the Puerto Vallarta waiters, servers, concierges, shuttle drivers, and other employees who, upon a guest’s approach, put their hand over their hearts. That gesture means: “With all my heart, I am happy to serve you.” I encourage this attitude to the store’s volunteers and employees. We love. We serve. We are the hands and feet of Jesus.

Not long after the store opens, one of our volunteers is being harassed by a distraught lady who has purchased way more than she should have. Clearly, our sales receipts say: “All Sales Final — No Refunds!” This lady is implying that she has been cheated because she declares that she was overcharged. She is ranting.

Not my department, but this Mama Bear (ME), goes to her and our dismayed store cashier to “save the day”! I, kindly, start checking the receipt and the items she purchased. The amount is correct. Now, I am in the mode to prove her wrong when our store’s assistant manager comes and intervenes. He takes the woman to the side and asks how he can help her.

Instead of being cheated, she realizes she spent way more than she could afford and asks to return most of the items. He puts his “hand over his heart” (not really, but in attitude), he refunds the lady for most of the items. His heart went before store policy.

This Mama Bear (me), who had become fiercely protective of our dear friend and cashier aka volunteer, saw potential danger and was ready to create a human shield for my friend.

While those might be great attributes for a Mama Bear, God called us to “be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:22)
I should have put my hand over my heart to serve her.

This lady needed mercy. And mercy she received when our Assistant Store Manager took her to a register and proceeded to “item-by-item” refund her money.

Thank you, Lord, for keeping me on Your Potter’s wheel and molding and making me into YOUR servant with a heart for doing the right thing — being an example of your grace and mercy. May my Mama Bear instincts bow to YOUR instincts for loving and serving like YOU!