Recently when we were eating at Olive Garden, our waitress was so lovely I could hardly take my eyes off of her. She had perfect skin, whose color I couldn’t distinguish, and very smooth black hair and dark eyes.
I felt a strong nudging to tell her how beautiful she was, instead of just thinking it. So I said,“You are so beautiful! Your hair is lovely and your skin is perfect.”
Our waitress beamed and said, “You made my day!”
As the meal progressed, our conversation continued and once again, without knowing how it happened, it turned to Jesus. I told her that we’d been through some difficult times the last several years, and she said she was going through a hard time.
I added, “We shouldn’t be surprised when hard times come. The Bible tells us Jesus said, ‘In this world, you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world’” (John 16:33).
Her eyes were thoughtful as she responded, “I really needed to hear that today.”
“Whatever we’re going through, God will go through it with us.”
“Yes,” she agreed.
When our waitress gave us our bill, I smiled at her and said, “We have a prayer bowl beside our bed where we put the names of people for whom we want to pray. We’ll put your name in our bowl.”
“Thank you so much! I really appreciate that. My name is on the bill.”
When we got home, we put Ondrea’s name on a slip of paper and placed it in our bowl. That evening during our devotional time, we prayed for her and will continue to do so.
As I think of our conversation that day, I am reminded of a saying I heard a long time ago: “Evangelism is just one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread.” It seemed providential that while Ondrea brought physical food to our table, we were given the opportunity to share spiritual food with her. What a wonderful exchange.
Heavenly Father, please let us always remember we are not ministering to others “from a place of superiority, but sharing a found source of grace*” as one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread. Thank you for placing Ondrea in our path. Keep her in the secret place of the Most High and give her grace for whatever she’s going through. Amen.
(*Quoted from an AI Overview.)