"It is Good"

 I do love the misty scenes of the valley with the distant veiled mountain range.

Above: fields have been plowed again and awaiting a new crop. The shaded row of trees and foliage  looks like a city!

Hello Ladies,

Did you notice in the Creation account in Genesis how God created something, then looked at it and said, "It is good"?

I adopted that policy for my children when they cleaned up their rooms. Do a good enough job that you can stand back and survey the situation and say "It is good."  

Homemaking involves a lot of creativity. It is not only about cleaning!  After all the sweeping and straightening, we need to make it smile-worthy, if possible!  And children will certainly respond to that.

If we can only look at this work of the home as an opportunity, not a suffering or a punishment, it will become a labor of love and a work of art.

Many years ago when businesses were lagging and customer-employee relationships were not so good, some very enterprising people developed courses for business people to take, to help them have better results.

They were trying to get business owners and employees to look at their employment, not as a drudgery but as an opportunity.

It caused the employees to approach their jobs with a new perspective.

I attended one of these in the 1980's, which was taught by a small business owner. The course became so popular and 

there were so many requests for his speeches, that he

 had to sell his business and go into full-time speaking for people in trade.

This was so long ago that I can't remember much about it, but I came across the workbook the other day (you know, because we keep everything fro 1952 ;-)--you will have to go to the video where I explained this!).

One thing that always remained in my mind, that was related in this conference was something he said:

"Your customer is your livelihood. When they buy something, you make a profit and you can pay your bills and buy food for your family. If you are rude to a customer, you lose money. They will go somewhere else to trade if they are not treated well. Who wants a bad experience when all they are doing is buying something they need?

He said something like this:

"So often in the shops, the employee is standing around having a conversation with another employee, and then a CUSTOMER walks in and they act like the customer just ruined their day! The customer interrupted them, and now the employee has to serve that person.

"Business owners and employees don't realize that when a customer walks in, although it is work, it is also an opportunity. They will not only be able to sell them something they are needing, but also use it as an opportunity to make the customer want to give them return business. If they are glad to see the customer, the customer will linger longer, recommend it to their friends, and return the next payday. When the product they are looking for is not available, the employee or owner can offer to order it for them."

These courses created a big change in the way the customer was viewed. No longer was a customer a nuisance, but became the source of prosperity to others. 

In changing things so much, the businesses also became more palatable to the customer. They began to admire business and want to create their own.

When you see the relationship between the customer and the business, it is easier to understand why our homes must be viewed, not with a grudging attitude, but with a desire to make home ife good for ourselves.

What we put into something is what we get out of it. We reap what we sow, as the Bible says.

Today as I was out walking I noticed what a lovely hue of blue the sky was above the trees and I wanted to share it with you. You see the Manse nestled there behind it all. I thought of how pretty it all is and how I must strive to make the Manse, humble cottage though it be, the best I can, and how labor brings good results. "In all labor there is profit," the Bible says, and I am sure that isn't meaning just monetary profit, because homemaking is so much more and is profitable in other ways too.

Visiually, it is nice to stand back after putting something in order, and say to yourself, "It is good."

It might be profitable to you to arrange some flowers, fresh or fake, in a bowl to finish off your tidy room.

I found this on Pinterest, but there was no reference to the artist there.

I know this concept that I've related here, will generate some discussion.

There was also a community group formed from the customer/business relationship in 1912 called The Better Business Bureau.  I found over the years that it was a great way to give feedback to good businesses that treated customers well, and also to report anything that was not so good. The only businesses you could never get to cooperate were the state-run places! There was a drivers license place where many customers were waiting, and one of the employees, feeling the pressure of a backlog of people waiting to be served, began to yell loudly at the customers. Several people reported this to the BBB but nothing ever came of it. State run businesses have no competition, so the customer can only go to that one place to get what they need, and that is a great disadvantage.

When the customer HAS to come back to that one and only place that has the product or service he needs, there is no incentive for the employee to behave politely. The employee cannot lose his job or lose the business when there is no fear the customer will give his business to a competing enterprise.

In a way this can be applied to the home. We don't want our families going to someone else's house and saying, "My neighbor's house is cleaner, neater," etc.  Of course they might do that, but at least we need to keep this in mind and do our best to make the home a place we prefer over other places.