I’ve been thinking about a girl.

She works in the coffee shop in our building downtown, and I see her just about everyday. Sometimes I get coffee, sometimes hot tea, sometimes iced. No matter what I order, she remembers how I like it, and delivers a perfect cup into my hands every time. She has lovely eyes, big and brown, with really long eyelashes (read: false-looking, but not) that find me covetous. She smiles at everyone, warm and sincere, remembering their preferences, too. She always sends me off to start my day with a little spring in my step.

And I do not know her name.

I realized it as I went up in the elevator, holding my steaming cup. How many, MANY times has this lovely girl served me and I’ve never even asked her? Really? That doesn’t even sound like me, but, truth be told, there are others, too. Regular checkers at the grocery store, for instance, or the gal at the dry cleaners. These people, and others like them, do their jobs well so that my day goes more smoothly, and while I always thank them, why haven’t I asked them their name?

It’s funny. I think we get to a point in our lives where we don’t have (make) time for other (more) people in our lives. We have enough as it is, we figure. We have enough to keep up with, and enough familiarity in our lives without inviting more. More problems. More drama. More demands. Just…MORE.

But simply asking the name of a person who regularly serves you doesn’t necessarily invite anything at all. It assigns value. It lets them know that you’re grateful for the job they’re doing and that you acknowledge them as more than a means to whatever they hand you. You acknowledge them as a person with a name…just like you.

Knowing how good it feels to be valued, I’m going to ask the girl today about her name. But, regardless of what she tells me, I already know one name of hers. I hope she knows it, too.

LOVED.

“…He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.” John 10:3 NLT

“God told them, “I’ve never quit loving you and never will.
    Expect love, love, and more love!” Jeremiah 31:3 MSG