“Don’t throw that out, I’m collecting them!” Ashley excitedly said, pointing to the card on my coffee. I looked at it: collect 6 and get a free coffee-that’s pretty sweet. I punched out the card and gave it to Ashley as she continued to go remind our squadmates that she was collecting these so don’t throw them out! Meanwhile, Paul noticed the ladies at the table behind us had some coffee cups of our own. “Excuse me, but my friend is collecting those. Would you mind?”
“Not a problem,” they say as they punch out the cards and hand them to him.
I notice this conversation as I’m throwing away my trash and simply chime in, “We’re on a tight budget in case you can’t tell.” I mean, we had just had peanut butter and honey sandwiches while sitting in McDonald’s and here we were asking if we could have their trash. I felt like we needed to clarify a bit that we weren’t just weirdos, though we won’t deny we’re a little strange too 🙂 Anyway, as I was walking away with my trash, the ladies must have noticed my shirt, the front of which says “Intervarsity Christian Fellowship,” the back, “Establishing witnessing communities who love God, love God’s love, love God’s people, love God’s world.” I’m guessing they noticed my shirt because shortly these two women, Debra and Catherine, who we later learned were themselves just stopping for lunch on their way to help lead a Christian camp, approached us with cash (well, pounds) in hand and saying, they found we were a part of a Christian organization and they wanted to make a donation to us. When we asked them how they found out, they pointed to me.
All I said was, “We’re on a tight budget in case you can’t tell.”
It’s amazing to me the way God uses simple encounters and little things like a tshirt or asking for someone’s garbage to provide in big ways. We continued to talk with Debra and Catherine a bit more before praying over Debra’s nearly 4-month old son, Owen. What a precious child he is. That little boy has a truly beautiful smile.
Lord was present in that moment-alive and real. We went into McDonald’s hungry and came out filled thanks to the love and blessing of a couple of women with garbage we wanted (which, by the way, Ashley does have enough for free coffee now!).
