Johnsons’ Drive- In, located in Siler City, NC serves a no-nonsense menu of burgers, fries & hot dogs. They have been in business since 1946. As one customer put it, “it’s a small old fashioned place with really great cheeseburgers with chili and onions. This is not a commercial and I’ve only eaten there once mainly because most of the time that I pass that way, they are closed. The place is small, only a few tables and most folk stand in line to get their meal and have to go outside to eat. From opening time until closing time there is a line.
The burgers are good and worth the wait. But I am not writing about them because I’ve been there so many times or because they always have a line in waiting. I’m writing about them because of the way the owner does business.
Johnson’s is only open for lunch. The owner is very careful in the quality of beef that he buys. Being in the business for over 40 years, he has a faithful supplier. What I appreciate most about Mr. Johnson, whom I’ve never met, is that he is not greedy. He buys a set amount of beef each day, prepares it for his customers and when he runs out of beef, and he always does, he closes. He is a person, content in his own skin. He is satisfied with serving a good product, earning a reasonable living, closing on Sundays and one other day of the week and enjoying the rest of his time with family and friends.
In our study of Philippians we read how the Apostle Paul learned to be content regardless of his circumstances. If more people were content, served others well and were less greedy, worked less, worried less, desired less and spent more time with family and friends, we would have a better world. How content are you with what you have, the way you serve others and how you relate to family and friends?
In His Love,
Charles
