What a Waitress Taught Me About God...

The difference between a great dining experience and a bad one can be relatively small. The waitress or waiter can make a big difference depending on how warm and friendly they are. The timing of the refills are important too. The decor sets the mood for our dinner. The smell & taste of the food and I'm sure another 15 things that make up a great dining experience.

I was at a hole in the wall restaurant that has great food. I had ordered already, and the food was coming soon. The smell of food was so good and the light jazz in the background really made me feel “relaxed.” We had ordered our drinks, and I got my usual ice water w/ a lemon. We ordered and our dining experience was on its way!

Now I have to confess, when it comes to drinking water, I’m kind of a camel. I can handle my water. I was in the middle of talking and sharing something important with some people, and the waitress came & dropped off a freshly poured ice water. I didn't even have to ask. It was just there when I needed it. This made the experience there so much more amazing. Isn’t it so nice to always have a full glass of whatever your drinking when you’re out w/ friends? You know what I mean?

As I took a sip of my freshly poured ice water w/ a lemon, I looked up at her to say thanks. She was a sweet old Italian lady mind you, and because I was telling a story we weren't going to be able to totally exchange pleasantries regarding my freshly poured water with ice, but she did something else to let me know she had her eye on me...she winked.

Yesterday morning while I was in church during the music part of worship, they played a song which is a personal favorite of mine. It’s called "Hallelujah" and Hillsong recorded it. This song, however, always reminds me of one of my favorite people in the whole world, Samantha...she's also called Sammie.

I hadn't spoken to Sammie in a while, and during this song I instantly had a picture of her come to my mind. She was in our youth ministry back home and is seriously one of my favorite people on earth. She brings the fun, the passion, and the joy of serving Christ and just being a family. Basically, she’s down. Hallelujah was her favorite song, and I was now thinking about her.

After I got done with Children’s Church, guess who calls me on my phone?? So Samantha & I are chatting it up and it dawns on me: "I just thought of her during the song this morning!" We end up talking later on, when she calls me back...and the person I was talking to was her cousin Tierney. Tierney has been an instrumental part of Sammie’s growth as a young lady who loves the Lord. I told Sammie this and she was like: "whoa, that's so weird!!"

Then, in between laughs and talking, I get a beep & the girl who had originally invited Samantha to church and was very close with Samantha while they were attending the youth ministry. When I told Sammie that Amanda was on the other line, she said: "Daaang, this whole day is like, connected."

Connected. Put together. It seems like something else is going on. In a safe way, similar to how it feels when a mother watches her child play outside…close enough to protect him, far enough to let him develop his own self-esteem and confidence.

Connected.

Is it pure coincidence? The skeptic says yes, and I would say no. I can be and feel very skilled at being a healthy skeptic...at finding reasons God "isn't" involved in some things...but do you want to know what I think was happening?

I think that in the middle of living in difficult times, Samantha found herself in need of someone who was carefully watching for whatever needs she might have. He was making sure that all the little details of her days were taking care of. He wanted to make sure the "living experience" was as great as it could be. The decor of the day was set. Even the right song was carefully selected to set the mood for the day. The "waiter" Himself was assigned to take care of all necessary arrangements, and when it seemed as if He wasn't paying attention to the needs of this awesome young lady's life...that's when Jesus winked.

I believe He "connects" certain things in our day to let us know that He is walking with us even when we can't see Him. I believe there are just certain days, maybe not everyday, but certain ones that cause me to sit back and just say: “Hmmmmm,” “Whoaaaa,” or as Samantha said: “Daaaaang!”

God used ordinary people lives to do make sure His loved ones get winked at by God. This makes all of us very important in the day to day affairs of people's lives...everyday.

I am so relieved to know that when I’m hungry and in need of someone to be keeping their eye on me, that I can count on Jesus to do this. And when I look up to notice what I have just watched Him do, He looks at me and says: “I got my eye you, son.” Then He winks.