If I can't find it, then I reply via email asking for a story about why it is important and why they are looking for it, so I can post it on our Search Service.
Sounds simple enough, right? Well, here's the "hitch". We have always considered our Search Service to be our Christian Ministry, so there is a prominently placed scripture verse near the top of the online page. And all our emails have signatures that include scripture verses. I decided last year that I no longer wanted to sign my emails with just Merry Christmas during December.
So here are some examples of my email sigs:
May you and your family enjoy the Blessings of Jesus in this holy time of year,
OR
May you have a Christ filled Christmas,This week someone who had asked for help finding an out of stock catalog item wrote me back after I'd written her, using a sig similar to one of these. She said she wanted me to delete all her correspondence with us. She explained that she had not realized she was dealing with some religious cult and did not want to use our service.
Rosemary
Plush Memories Lost Toy Search Service
“And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.”
Luke 2:10-11 KJV
I replied that I had done as she asked and had deleted all our correspondence, but I wanted her to know that we are Christians who belong to a Southern Baptist Church.
I've heard the term "War on Christmas" lately on talk radio, and I've certainly seen a drastic reduction in the number of clerks who wish us a "Merry Christmas" at the checkout counter. And I imagine we've lost business in the past because of our prominent scripture verses.
But this is the first time someone went out of their way to point out how weird they thought we were.
