The Mr. and I went to Chilli's the other night for dinner. It was the dark and cold end to a long day and we were tired. We really wanted to eat and head home for a long autumn's nap.We noticed that the service was pretty slow. Our burger and salad seemed to be taking a long time. We speculated that there must be a new cook or problems in the kitchen. Maybe somebody called off. Eventually we lapsed into a comfortable tired silence waiting for our meals.
Across the aisle sat two elderly ladies. They were already seated and sipping their soft drinks when we arrived. After we had been waiting ourselves quite a while, I noticed they didn't have their food yet either. They continued to chat and seemed to not mind the extended wait. Eventually the waitress came out and delivered one of the ladies her fish dinner. Her companion's food was not served. The manager came over and spoke to the second woman, "Sorry, your meal was overcooked. We're making you a new one right now. It'll be a few more minutes."
"Ok", said the woman. The two continued to converse as only one ate her dinner. Quite a few minutes later the replacement meal arrived. The first woman's meal was almost gone. Just as the second lady began to eat, across the restaurant several people broke out in song led by the waitstaff, "Happy birthday..."
The elderly woman who had waited heaven knows how long for her meal put down her fork and knife to sing along doing a little jig in her seat and smiling broadly. After the song she applauded the birthday boy, picked up her utensils with a smile and continued eating her belated meal.
Oh, for a heart that radiates such joy that the people across the aisle in a restaurant feel Jesus just for being in the same room.
Proverbs 15:13 A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.
4 comments:
She is certainly a good example of how we should react to things.
Had she murmured and complained her
meal would've gotten to her no sooner. She didn't let it steal her joy, what a testimony and she didn't even realize it!
When I am tempted to become upset when things are going slower than I'd like, I remember something Bro. Tuto said to me years ago. He talked of how blessed we are in the U.S. to have all the stores to shop in and the great variety of food to choose from. He told me that in Romania you had to go to different stores for different things: Bread stores, meat markets, fruit markets, etc. Then he said if you didn't get to a store early enough in the day, everything would sell out and you went home with nothing. I've remembered what he shared and I've learned just how blessed we are when so much of the world's population gets by on so very little. We need to become unspoiled and learn to be more thankful and content.
Brother Tuto was something else. Very wise man. It is so true that we are so spoiled here in America.
That lady was a wonderful example of joy flowing over into other's lives. I know she touched mine.
that's a good lesson, I thought you were going to say your food sucked or something :)
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