Recently, I have been urged by the Holy Spirit to pray according to the Lord’s prayer and to work on becoming a servant in different areas.

I have been a greeter at church for a bit of time. This is a bit of a challenge because I have a paralyzed vocal cord. I can barely talk some days, so I compensate with hugging all the ladies. I usually am a greeter once a month but this month I am scheduled for two times. (YIPPEE!)

I also volunteered to help out with one of the single’s groups Christmas parties. I came early, helped with decorating the tables, greeted guests and then helped a bit with taking down the decorations.

I was pretty proud of myself and starting to pat myself on the back. I was getting this servant thing down!

Then I was gifted a ticket to go to another single’s party at a church. I had not volunteered for this group so I was hoping to just sit down and enjoy it.

That wasn’t God’s plan though.

God had a lesson for me to learn.

He directed my attention to a man who sat clear across the table from me. Anytime that man got up from the table he asked the sweet lady sitting beside him if he could get anything for her. Each time he got up from the table he looked for what he could bring for someone else on his way back from the buffet and drink line. When there weren’t enough plastic glasses for him and the lady sitting beside him to play a game, he offered to share his.

I kept watching this man and pretty soon my plume of pride for being such a good servant had diminished to nothing. I could feel my jaw dropping in awe. This man had the servant role perfected.

The party started livening up and I could slip away from the table. When I did, I got a cup of hot chocolate for this man. But he was no longer sitting at the table. So I put the cup on the table and walked away but I felt a nudging from the Holy Spirit to go give him that cup of hot chocolate. So I went back to that table, picked up that cup and then saw him sitting on a couch. I took him that cup of chocolate.

His face lit up in a grin when I handed it to him. He said, “It has been a long time since someone did something nice for me.” I made sure I talked to this man more after that. I wanted to know his story. When I found out what he did for a living I was so impressed. He works for the government and is a public servant. Right now the position he is working in is under persecution.

I never really considered what government workers sometimes endure in their positions until I met this man. I know they get paid and have good pensions but they currently get a lot of bad press for doing their jobs.

We exchanged numbers and he thanked me again for the hot chocolate. He said he had been in a funk but that cup of hot chocolate had made such a difference. I was so humbled by his gratefulness because I realized he had given me a greater gift.

He had shown me how Jesus would have acted at a single’s Christmas party.