What is your mission behind the mundane?
In Iraq, our soldiers are supposed to eat bland and overcooked food, right? Well, at least they aren’t garnished with parsley. For years they have been calorie factories giving troops the fuel they need to do their jobs. An old adage says, “An Army travels on its stomach.”
However, the Pegasus chow hall is different, just outside of the Bagdad airport. They have a new reputation. At Pegasus, the prime rib is perfect, the fruit platter has watermelon, kiwi, and grapes. Soldiers were traveling from safe zones to dangerous zones just to get this dining experience.
Why? Because of Floyd Lee. He was retired (after 25 yrs) of being a cook, but he found a powerful purpose. He knew that the soldiers fought brutal temperatures and devastating situations, and he wanted to provide respite in the middle of the storm. He says it like this, “As I see it, I am not just in charge of food service; I am in charge of morale.”
Chefs wear tall hats, windows have fancy curtains, fluorescent lights have been replaced with softer lighting, favorite sports banners hang on the wall.
Go beyond serving chow. Go beyond your mundane. You can find deeper purpose behind any menial act.
=pastor
my sources: Made to Stick by Chip & Dan Heath AND US News and World Report
Posted on October 18, 2007, in Daily Word. Bookmark the permalink. 7 Comments.
Robin Steele 
This guy Floyd Lee is a hero also because he gives a ray of sunshine in a dark environment to those fighting for our freedom. It is an inspiration to apply the same concept to our spiritual warfare. I wonder, who feeds our spiritual leaders so they can get an uplift, and can there be improvement on the meager fare I set out from time to time?
Oohhh … this has been in my latest conversations and on my mind because I recently heard a message along the same lines … “Is this all I am supposed to be doing?” This is something that everyone should reflect. I left my management career … when I was being promoted because I really felt like God was calling me to do something else. My career now is with a company that strives to make a difference in the lives of other women. This is what I am supposed to be doing.
Floyd Lee must have asked “Is this what I am supposed to be doing?” right before he realized that he should be making a difference for these soldiers.
Whatever God has blessed you with … what is your passion … there is a place to build that up in the kingdom of God.
…and read the DreamGiver book by Bruce Wilkenson. It is very encouraging.
congratulations, Casey! you posted our 500th comment! i wish I had some great prize, but…at this time I don’t.
Darn. I really like Starbucks. (lqtm – laughing quietly to myself)
for me….it is offering choices in what is often thought of a choiceless situation.
where right now it is thought…
you must share a room with someone because insurance says it has to be that way; where your husband can not stay the night with you because of privacy issues; where your new baby “must” be taken away and tended to without you being there; where you have to pay to have a more comfortable room.
My vision…..
a place where your room is yours regardless of your insurance; where your husband can always stay and family is welcome to come in at your request; where your baby never has to leave your side; where every room is beautiful and home like; where you make the choices that best fit you and your family.
I see a “Placid Farm Birthing Center” in our future PSM…….