Queen Anne Waitress

I was down at Seattle Pacific University this afternoon having lunch with a student I met.  The conversation was incredible but what was so inspirational was what happened with our waitress.  So, Allison (our waitress) comes up to our table obviously holding tears back, and so we asked her if she was doing ok.  Immidiately, she broke in to tears explaining something that was a little difficult to understand considering she was sobbing…then she just walked away.

 

It all of a sudden became one of those moments when you realize that you are not accidentally there.

 

Allison, came back, sort of…embarrassed if you will.  She quickly poured us more water, and turned around to walk away.  Before she completely turned around, I softly grabbed her arm, and turned her around, and said,”excuse me, what is your name?”.  After telling us, I ask her if she wouldn’t mind articulating what she was trying to say earlier so we could understand her heart ache.  Of corse, she broke down again and quickly explained her story of one of her friends who’s cigarettes caught fire while he was sleeping and died last night, and how she just found out.  She then stopped, and looked at Ben and I and said…”you aren’t accidentally here are you?”.  I then asked her to grab a chair for a brief moment.  Allison pulled up a chair and I held out my hand cueing her to place hers into mine, and I asked her if we could pray for her.  She continued crying and said that that would be ok.  Before I started, I explained to her that it is moments like these that challenge us most in life, because it brings out a side of our God that is most difficult to understand.  But with the loving fire of the Holy Spirit in my eyes, I looked her dead in the eyes and I said,” His reasonings are far beyond our understanding, but what I do know, Allison, is that everything He does in your life, everything that He allows or takes away in your life is to draw you closer to Him”.  And I encouraged her to draw close to her God in these times.

 

obviously, this was a powerful encounter because the Spirit of God was present, but the thing that is most inspirational, were the things I was praying earlier for…To be able to be in places that the Lord has lead me, to notice opportunities that the Lord desires to use me in (and to partake in them), and for people to know our meeting is not accidental.