An Encounter at Dennys

Today is my youngest brother Jared's 12th Birthday! I can't believe it, he's one year away from being a teenager. Who would've thought this day would ever come??? What's funny, is I know 12 year olds, and he still seems like he's 10 to me. He's pretty short, but then again, everyone in my family is short. Stupid genetics. There's no hope for any of us, so I suppose I'll have to marry someone pretty tall if my children want to see happy days, or see anything at all for that matter. (J/K)

So, Wednesday, when I was working at Dennys, I had the whole back room to myself, which I love, because they stick all the big parties back there, and that's where you make the most money. I had about 5 tables, and I asked the hostess not to seat me anymore so I could go on my break, but when I came back into the room, EVERY table decided they wanted dessert, which of course we make, so it just takes extra time, mean while, every time I went back into the room to drop one off, every table needed something else. "Miss, could you bring us more napkins?" "Miss, could you bring our check?" "Miss, I need a refill." "MISS MISS MISS!" You know how it is. I really want to go on my break, but these people refuse to even let me have a moment of peace.

In the midst of these demanding parties, there's a little hidden table of 2 in the back corner. A single mom with an almost side pony tail atop her head, and one of the most beautiful yet sassy little girls I've ever met. Sherry and Dannella. The two reminded me of another mother daughter pair I know and am close to. Mom tries to act too young, making comments such as, "You're the bomb" and the daughter's got the mom wrapped around her finger and get's whatever she wants. Every time I left their presence I wanted to cry, because I know how that story ends. I found myself praying often for them under my breath, asking God for an open opportunity to minister. It comes.

Every table leaves at the same time except for them, and I finally get to go on my break. Since there's no one else in the room, except the two, I'm aloud to sit down at one of the tables. Im walking toward them and I they start to get up. In a flash I blurt out, "Please don't leave, I'm on my break and I wanted to sit and talk with you guys," which isn't completely strange because I had pretty much already established a relationship with them, laughing and joking with the girls every time I had previously come to their table. So she smiles and sits back down and the three of us begin to chat.

Danella's in 2nd grade, but she looks much older. She's very tall. (Lucky girl.) Somehow, right away we get on the subject of church, and Sherry looks at me and says, "I knew you were a Christian. I could just tell. You're so different." And little Danella says, "You even look like a Christian." And they proceed to tell me that they're Christians and go to the church of a pastor friend of mine, but they're moving to Texas in 2 weeks. Dani loves church, but they admitted to not going too often. They may visit ours this Sunday. After we had established that we were both Christians, she began to openly pour out her heart and her life story to me. She'd recently left Dani's dad, which all she would say "was a bad seen" and that she has trouble with her daughter because she has ADHD, and is constantly begging for attention, mostly by, (from what I could tell), constantly pushing her limits and boundaries.

We talked for about 15 minutes. It was really good. I got to pour into her, and it ended with me praying for her and her daughter. I prayed for wisdom, a good church in Texas with a great children's program, and healing, and before they left I made Dani memorize a quote. "My body is lined up with the Word of God." Which she remembered very quickly and I instructed her to repeat it every day. She walked away saying it over and over again. It was so cute. Her mom was fighting back tears, but she left smiling. She even filled out one of our comment cards which said, "Jayel was awesome!" Hee hee.

It's so amazing to see how God worked that out. To know that that one little moment had been planned from the beginning of time. Perhaps they will never forget me. Perhaps their lives will be forever changed because of one encounter at Dennys. This happened a few days ago, but revisiting this memory stirs me. Think, we could have encounters like this every day if we just looked and asked. If we weren't afraid.

One of my favorite things is learning about other peoples lives. There's just so many out there being lived, and so many that need help. And to think, this is how we're called to live, every day. Literally, helping and changing peoples lives is our calling, all of our callings as Christians. That's huge. God is so amazing, and once again, I stand in awe of His sovereignty. If I had gone on my break when I wanted to, if none of those other tables had wanted dessert, I may have never had that opportunity. He is good.