Nearly a year after he’d been laid off because of COVID, Rebecca Mix’s dad--a jubilant, always-smiling, 58-year-old Michigander--told her he wanted to go back to work. Specifically, he wanted to work at Costco. Rebecca continues:

“OK,” I said, thinking that is weirdly particular. “You’ll need a résumé.” He told me “I want to work on my feet. I want to work somewhere that appreciates me until I can retire. Can you help me apply?” There were other places that seemed ideal to him: delivering packages for UPS or FedEx. But he’d grown up only 15 minutes from our local Costco, and had heard their reputation for treating their employees well.

“OK,” I promised. “We’ll apply tonight.” And then I opened Twitter. I fired off a few funny tweets explaining my dad had been laid off due to COVID and really, really wanted to work for Costco. And then I forgot about it. Until I logged into Facebook, and had a message request from an unfamiliar name. A manager of a local Costco had contacted me. The company’s chief executive, Craig Jelinek, had somehow found my dad’s tweets, emailed several Michigan stores, and suggested they bring him in for an interview. I freaked out. I said “Dad, this is nuts. They’re going to hire you.” “Maybe,” he said. “I’m not sure. But I’ll keep my fingers crossed.”

The next day, he had an interview. “And do me a favor,” he said. “Don’t put that in a tweet.” He called me after, bubbling over with excitement. It’d gone well, he thought. I congratulated him, and in his trademark style, he said: “Well, I might not get the job. But at least I tried.”

But then a few days later, a text from my dad popped up from my phone. It was just a picture, and the words: “thank you.” A picture of his new Costco badge!

Possible Preaching Angle:

Father; Fathers; Respect; Work & Career – What a great example of repaying a parent for all that they have done for you (1 Tim. 5:8).