After the hussles and buzzles of setting up shop, we welcomed the long awaited first customer who arrived at our door. I vaguely remember that it was a Monday.
As a small business venture, the funds were very tight at that time and we were worried that we could not keep it running for long. On the other hand, we were quietly determined to persevere. Alas, there came our first customer. She walked in slowly, wearing a fisherman's hat, and we greeted her with much enthusiasm: "Hello! Hello!"
Facing this first guest, we mustered up the warmest smiley welcome, the politest greeting, and the most joyful atmosphere. Who would have known, the arrival of the first guest has such a surprising outcome.
We asked her what she was looking for, and she explained that piercing her ears was a burden, so she came to us to try clip-on earrings. She hoped to find a pair that suits her as well as not suffering any pain. Well, we understood what she meant, but the unexpected twist was, we were too inexperienced to know how to properly converse with someone who was a terminally ill cancer patient! I discovered later that it was unnecessary to worry about these complicated issues; we simply needed to answer normally and be ourselves.
At that time, I felt mixed emotions and was in a dilemma. As a business person, I should have just sold our products. But with my particular character trait, I felt moved to care about her. It so happened that during that time, the pastor just taught about the topic of birth, aging, sickness and death again. It was not a mere coincidence to come face to face with someone terminally ill. What a difficult dilemma and a solemn matter. After all, life could be likened to a bus journey. Some people may get off the bus earlier, and others take longer. Compared with time, life is so short.
So it happened, during that lazy sunny afternoon, we busied ourselves to present her a variety of styles, and she was busy trying them on.
Chatting back and forth, I couldn't help but say as the shop owner: "You seem surprisingly energetic!"
Thankfully, this opened up the conversation for us smoothly. Although a little surprised at first, she didn't mind sharing about her sad situation. Our conversation moved from the style of clip-on earrings, to birth, old age, sickness and death, and then to the attitude of facing the disease. We discovered that she was an optimistic, cheerful and hard-working young lady! But we were fearful to face such a sickness in close distance. In the end, we mustered up the courage to invite her to pray together. During the prayer, we felt clearly how much God loved her.
That afternoon, the sun rays filled the room; we found motivation for each other. She met the divine protector of life, and we found a new reason to push on. Today, she has become our good friend and a partner in life. We accompany each other through the highs and lows of life. What an extraordinary first customer who opened up a deeper meaning to our work!
May we, Ciel de Bethléem, meet every guest in the future and become their friends, contributing brightness, beauty and encouragement to each other through the journey of life.