It’s About Time

Learn what a broken wristwatch taught one volunteer, living abroad in Jordan, about godly service, true community and putting others’ needs first.

The other day I looked down at my watch and realized that the battery had stopped. Assuming this would be an easy fix, I walked down to the local hardware store in my neighborhood with my friend Karen. We were on a mission!

The Jordanian shop owner greeted us with a wide smile, gesturing for us to come inside. Taking my watch in his hand, he began to explain in broken English that he didn’t have any batteries left, but motioned for us to follow him back outside.

After living in Amman for a few weeks, I’ve found this to be common practice—to blindly follow a friendly stranger without any direction or explanation in hopes that your question would be answered. So we did!

As we walked down the block, we ran into another man whom the shop owner greeted warmly with hugs and kisses, another common practice here.

“This is my cousin, Omar,” the owner shared. “He will help you.” 

We introduced ourselves and smiled in return. Then we followed them both into another, almost identical, hardware store. Omar took my watch and, within minutes, my watch was ticking away. Success!

We warmly thanked our new friends as we left the shop, yet were surprised when Omar followed us outside and then walked into a lighting store next door.

“This is my shop,” he explained proudly. It was only then that we realized Omar did not work at the second hardware store, but merely was friends with the other owner.

Omar had gone out of his way to help us, even when it didn’t benefit him financially at all, simply because he could. So had his cousin, the first shop owner. Pure benevolence.

This is the culture of hospitality that defines Jordan: A willingness to pause whatever you are doing to be of service to someone else, even when it doesn’t directly benefit you. Serving simply because you can.

This experience got me thinking: How often do we take the time to help someone like this?

Just do it

King Solomon instructs us to “not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do so” (Proverbs 3:27). It would have been simple for Omar or his cousin to simply say, “No, I’m fresh out of batteries today. Sorry!” But they didn’t. They went out of their way to help where they could, even going above and beyond what would be considered “normal” to most customers.

Probably without even knowing it, they fulfilled one of the greatest instructions in the Bible: love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Galatians 5:14).

It’s about time

It’s not just about a newly ticking watch, but about the investment of time and concern that’s required to put someone else’s needs above our own.

The apostle Paul taught that unity is achieved by serving one another: “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others” (Philippians 2:2-4). Here, we not only see the importance of service, but also of building relationships with each other so we know what needs we can help fulfill.

I may never see Omar and his cousin again. I hope I do. But every time I look down at my watch, I remember the lessons they taught me: To not be so busy that we overlook the needs of others standing right in front of us. To be willing to be interrupted. To take the time to ask how we can serve and contribute to make someone’s day—or even someone’s life—just a little better.

It’s about time we embraced this ideology and shifted the focus off ourselves so we can develop godly character through serving others.

Leslie M. Bosserman is currently serving in Amman, Jordan, with her husband as part of the Foundation Outreach International volunteer project. She also works internationally as a fulfillment specialist and leadership coach with her company Lead With Intention™.