A Little of My Culinary Expertise…

“Everyone can be great because anyone can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve… you only need a heart full of grace – a soul generated by love”
~ Martin Luther King, Jr. ~

Quite a few years back I remember being in a seminar that would teach me how to be more successful at the direct sales business I was then a part of.

“Tell me who you are and what you do.” the instructor said.

“My name is Amy and I am a Future Director with the Pampered Chef!” I said with a smile and spunk in my voice.

“Incorrect,” she said. “your name is Amy and that is who you are but ‘Future Director with the Pampered Chef’ does not tell me what you do. Try again.”

“What?” I thought to myself. “Who is this crazy woman? Does she know who I am?”

At the time I was pretty successful at my business. I didn’t just sell products. I gave a live cooking show complete with a take home manual on how to accomplish some of the finest culinary skills that I had mastered at the time. I was asked to give my presentation at a large Pampered Chef event and my “show” was even recorded for training purposes. I already had recruits, my sales were high, and I had only been at it for a few months. I thought I was “it”! Can you tell?

So then this little woman with a big voice says to me again, “C’mon. Tell me what you do.”

“I’m a consultant with the Pampered Chef (she shakes her head no). I’m an independent contractor (now she is rolling her eyes). I’m a salesperson?

“All titles.” she says. “Do you cook?”
“Yes.” I said.
“Do you help people buy the most efficient products for their kitchen?”
“Yes” I said once again.
“Well that is something that you do!” she said. “If I’ve never been a part of anything to do with Pampered Chef then I have no clue what ‘Future Director’ means. You must tell me what you can do and better than that, show me how it works!”

Lightbulb moment.

People don’t care about our fancy titles and how we refer to ourselves. They want to know what we do and how we can help them. I can say that I am a Christian or a child of God till I am blue in the face but what does that mean to someone who has never been to church or experienced the hand of God in their lives? It means nothing.

Who am I and what do I do?

My name is Amy and I have a desire to serve people. I pray for others. I have to repent daily and I go the extra mile to help others if they are in need. I try to bless others when no one else is watching because it isn’t about the glory. I serve a God who is bigger than me and He can help me overcome anything.

That is what I do and that my friend is part of who I am. So the next time you are in a position where you are about to say, “Well, I am a Christian.” or “I’m the Assistant Pastor” or “I am a ministry leader”, remember that you could be the only one within ears reach who knows what that means and this is your chance to sell some kitchen tools, er uh, show the love of Christ by serving someone else! That is what a Christian is and that is what we do!

For you have been called to live in freedom--not freedom to satisfy your sinful nature, but freedom to serve one another in love.
~ Galatians 5:13 ~

I'd love for you to visit me at my personal blog: In Pursuit of Proverbs 31