Thurrsday I went to Marco's Pizza in Scottsboro for lunch. I felt like I needed to eat there, which I thought was because I liked pizza However, I realized later it was so much more than my craving for pizza.
I ordered my food (pizza, yum!!) and sat down for lunch. There weren't many people there......one gentleman and a couple across the dining area from me, and two older ladies sitting on my side talking. I remember one of the ladies talking about her experience of getting a pedicure. Someone else had treated her to the pedicure recently, and she said that all she thought the whole time was that "there are children going hungry in this world and here I am getting a pedicure!" I was amused by her comments, and could tell without seeing her that she was a person who did not spend money frivolously. I let my mind wander about the tasks still at hand for the day while the ladies made their way out of the restaurant.
About 2 minutes later, a car alarm starts going off and doesn't stop. I got irritated and thought, "This has got to be one of these women.....why don't they just press the button on the key fob already!" After a few minutes, one of the young men (they had to still be teenagers) behind the counter went outside, then came back inside to tell another worker that something was wrong with the lady's car and to cover the register so that he could help. Another customer (an older gentlemam) went outside as well at this time to offer assistance. About 10 minutes later the ladies came back in and the owner of the car had called her husband to come pick her up. Her friend with her was a lady who worked in retail, which was evident by her outfit and name badge, and had fiery red hair. Her face was tired and worn, but her hair and her eyes shined with a vibrant life and spirit. I wanted to sit down with this lady over coffee and spend the afternoon hearing her stories and gleaning the knowledge and truth she had gained thus far in her life. She said, "Well, we just wanted to play a different kind of music for you while you enjoyed your meal!" Even in this minor disturbance to her schedule she was concerned how it was affecting the people around her. The ladies sat down and started talking again, and as I eavesdropped on the conversation (yes, I'm nosy!), I learned that the lady who owned the car had called her husband and was waiting on him to pick them up. It would be awhile and the other lady needed to get back to work. I was done with lunch, so I jumped up and offered to give the lady a ride back to work. She took me up on my offer, after making sure her friend was okay to wait alone for her husband to show up, and we headed out the door.
She thanked me about 10 times in the span of the 3 minutes it took to get her back to work. During our journey I learned that she would have lost points for being late (which I imagine affects pay and how many hours the supervisors schedule you for), and I explained to her that I had worked retail before, and we shared brief stories about what we had experienced. As I pulled up to the front door, she told me if I ever needed a favor to come find her at work and she would help. She said, "I owe you big time because now I'm not late!"
After I dropped her off and headed back to work, I thought about writing a blog post about retail workers and being nice and not insanely rude to them while shopping this holiday season. (So needed but maybe another time. Some of you need a reminder to chill out.) And then it hit me.....for the past week I have been praying for God to put someone in my path for me to witness to about the love of Jesus Christ, and I totally missed it! Yes, I did a random act of kindness, and acted selflessly. Yes, the lady was very appreciative for my thoughtfulness. But I didn't use that brief period of time to tell her about Jesus and the awesomeness of God. How could I have forgotten, have not seen, that God was orchestrating this to reach this lady?
As I sat there with my thoughts, I asked God to show me what I needed to see, what He wanted to teach me through this situation. My willingness to help and serve was natural, like breathing to me. I didn't even give it a second thought. I saw that there was a need and jumped up to help. I love helping and serving other people. It flows freely. What doesn't flow freely is talking with others about Jesus Christ. I do it, and have done it, but it is not like breathing, it is not natural, and it doesn't flow freely. It's not constantly on my mind, and when I do witness to others, I restrain myself and don't let the Holy Spirit move freely. This makes me sad. The one I say I love, have given my allegiance to, who has died for me, who loves me more than humanly possible, does not flow freely through me during those moments. I do witness to others, but when I do, I restrain myself from what needs to be said and don't let the Holy Spirit have His way and say what He wants to say. Some may say that the lady felt the love of Christ through my act of kindness to her, and I am sure she did, but did she know what she felt? If we as Christians don't tell them, then how will they know about Jesus? I think a large portion of American Christians depend on their acts of kindness and service to point people to Christ, and don't put enough importance on telling and explaining to people why they serve, that Jesus is the reason for the love we show others. There are more orchestrated divine moments set up in our everyday lives to talk to people about Jesus if we will let the Holy Spirit have his way and move freely within us. Acts of service are important, but so are relationships and talking with people about Jesus Christ.