For many months we have been adjusting to our move into a new house. It has been both a blessing and the challenge of our lives…
We are trying to show the kids how to love their friends in the midst of strife but sometimes it just takes action to get the point across. Jeannie and I will be a little more open to new adventures in 2012 and we embarked on one Monday night. I though I would share the story and how our blessings come in the strangest of ways.
My commute to work takes me around 183 to I-35 each morning and on one of those days I felt that small still voice nudge me to a place that I have not been in 25 years. Not since my parents would take my sister and I there out on SPID in Corpus. Red Lobster! Yes, the same thought went through my head and Jeannie’s when I told her we needed to go have dinner there. Needless to say, I let it slide. But each day, I would see the familiar Red Lobster sign and knew something had to be done….but what?
We decided we would do something we always heard about but never did. We would go have dinner and select a family to bless with their meal…anonymously. So we loaded up the kids and told them of our adventure. They were very excited. We were seated in the center of the restaurant after a long pause at the tank full of live lobster. I told myself we need to wait and let God show us the right people. We ordered our meal and began wondering who could we bless….the two old ladies dining alone or the family of three that just sat behind us. As we were wrapping up dinner and our waiter dropped the check, we had decided to split our decision in two and bless two tables because we could not choose. But then there they were; a man and a woman with there little 2-3 year old baby boy. They themselves could not have been more than 20.
It is funny the way the Holy Spirit works. I think we are quick to take the reins and try and make things happen and He shows up just at the last minute. I often say that I wish that God would just show me where I need to be and when, but I think I am changing that answer. I think it is time to embrace a little more excitement and adventure. Maybe a little less control in this world that I cannot control.
As we are leaving, the manager that helped work out my plan offered to take out one the lobsters and then let the kids play with it; it was an adventure! Not just a night out to dinner, but one with live animals that could snap off your fingers!
As we left, we had a couple of extra plates of food our waiter helped us prepare for some guys under 183 so we headed out to find some guys to give a meal too. As we drove Jeannie and I both saw a guy sitting hunched over under an overpass so we looped around and pulled under the overpass. There was no sign of him where he had been sitting but way up at the top was a dark blob and I just called out “Are you hungry?” and a deep voice called back “YEAH!” and started moving my way. Very slowly he came down the embankment. Dark hoody and a grey beard with deep blue eyes. He said his name was Frank and blessed me. We gave him our leftovers and I got back in the car and we pulled away.
I felt again that connection deep inside that tells me when I am in the right place at the right time. Not sure I will ever see Frank again. As we drove home, our family talked about why we help people. Why we need to be light in this dark world. You never know how your life will cross with another person and be an impact even if it is slight. We talked about how what if Frank was praying under that bridge to give up drinking and go see his daughter if only God would give him food tonight. or what if that young family was having dinner that night for their little boy’s birthday with their last $60.
The car ride home was my blessing. To be able to speak truth to my kids using real people and let them feel the emotion and not just hear me say, “Be nice,” or “Turn the other cheek.” I plan to do more tangible teaching in 2012.
“Your money, your singleness, marriage, talent, and time
They were loaned to you to show the world that Christ is Divine.” – Lecrae