I can feel the twinkle of his eye in his handshake. – Helen Keller

This morning, I left Dad’s apartment and decided to make a quick stop in the McDonald’s drive-thru down the street. As I was waiting in the line, I noticed the manager on duty hand over the brown paper bag of breakfast to the customer in the van, and then, he reached out his hand and offered a handshake.

I thought, “Well, that’s odd, but wow, how nice. They must have known each other.”

The car between that van and my truck pulled forward, and I could see it was a middle-aged professional woman, probably on her way to work just like me. She took her cup of coffee and her brown paper bag of breakfast, and then, the manager reached out his hand and offered a very sincere and lingering handshake.

“What in the world,” I thought. Being a mini-Mom/Grace, I was not about to keep silent about it – I had to ask.

So I pulled forward and there he was, a kind-eyed manager, handing me my bag of oatmeal breakfast. And then he stuck out his hand with a smile.

Mom came out.

“What a surprise! I figured you knew the man in the van, but then I saw you shake the lady’s hand in front of my truck, and now me?? Why do you offer a handshake to your customers?”

And he responded with a grin that it is the right thing to do, he enjoys his job at the window, and he would like for his customers to come back. And then he said,

“I hope you WILL come back, and please have a very pleasant day.”

Guaranteed. 

That manager was Jesus to me this morning. He was Matthew 5:16 with two golden arches shining bright at 9717 West 87th.

Dispositional gratitude…praise God for everything.