Yesterday, Yvonne, the wife of one of them men who was in meetings with me was at a coffee shop. She had ordered something to eat and was leaving the counter when a small portion of her food dropped on the floor. Rather than leave it there, she came back to pick it up.
A Spanish speaking woman asked her why she did that. Yvonne, who happens to speak fluent Spanish, responded that she didn't want anyone to slip on it. This led to further conversation which then led to a discussion about faith.
It turns out this woman had just lost her mother 11 days ago and was looking for answers. Yvonne ended up praying with this woman and she prayed to receive Christ! How cool is that?!
Yesterday evening I got on the airplane and was seated in a middle seat in the exit row. I had two men on either side of me. Neither seemed like the talkative type--in fact they both seemed rather unfriendly. Not a word was spoken for the first four fours of the four hour 20 minute flight. This was fine with me because I had work that I could do and some things to read.
As we were making the approach to the airport, I reached in my briefcase and got a piece of gum. I offered a piece to both of my non-communicative seat mates. They both accepted and were extremely grateful. It was as if they were saying, "Why did you offer me something when I haven't given you the time of day?" They truly seemed shocked. We actually talked a little bit for the remainder of the flight.
I would love to tell you that I prayed with both of them as Yvonne did, but that did not happen. However, I hope and pray that a seed was planted with them. Next time, I will try to do something nice for someone earlier in the flight.
On my drive home, I was struck by the power of a simple gesture and how someone's life literally can be changed forever by that.
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.
1 Peter 3:15b
1 comment:
this was great, jim! i would call this a bit of your "accent of heaven" (see my blog post for today...how fun that you gave a perfect example for what i was writing!)
Post a Comment