Tales of this shopkeeper - Shedding some light....

Many kinds of people walk through my shop door and I'm grateful for each one...really! Each one is unique. Most are friendly, some don't speak when spoken to, some are very opinionated and every once in awhile there's that one. You can't get a handle on them. First impression is never a good one and, in fact, they sort of rub you the wrong way. Until....God sheds some light on the whole thing. And here's just another reason I LOVE what I do!! Let me use an analogy here. Take this great little chandelier my daughter in law found while we were up visiting them this past weekend. At first glance it looks pretty worn and covered in dust and grime. Enter, and I'm not being mean here, a very disheveled lady holding an equally disheveled looking dog.

She barely speaks when I say "hi". That's okay. She keeps her head down and seems to just be walking through not really looking at things. Her sweater is stretched out and hangs higher in the back than the front..... The roses on the chandelier are covered in grime and yellowed from age. They must be hiding something...

She continues around the shop, sort of shuffling. I can barely see her face as her hair is hanging in front of it...the chandelier has no light coming from it. The wires are old and were disconnected long ago... Now the lady is making her way towards the front, head still down. I am compelled to say something before she leaves and I feel compassion as she is now a few feet away from me. "What a cute dog" I say. "What kind is it?" The shuffling stops...she raises her head and looks at me...I take cleaner and a cloth and begin to rub on the grimey film that covers the rose.... Her hair parts and I see a beautiful pair of blue eyes staring at me....as the grime disappears a beautiful white porcelain rose appears....

The lady begins to tell me about her dog and how special he is to her as her husband died a few months ago....there is a light in her eyes...I realize the chandelier just needs some attention and it will light up once again...