Food
I had an odd day. It was good, but odd.
To set up the story, I have to way back in the wayback machine to the first time we were deployed to Bangor, Maine in the fall of 1990. We were helping ferry stuff to the Persian Gulf region because Iraq invaded Kuwait. For those that don't know, the United States Air Force has been actively fighting wars since 1990. A lot of it was just called "enforcing a no-fly zone", but flying missions is flying missions and takes its' toll on the equipment.
Anyway, a friend of mine met a very nice young woman who was kind enough to invite us to her home for a meal. When you're TDY, restaurants are normally where you eat, or the chow hall if you're on a big enough base. After a week or so, a home-cooked meal starts to sound pretty good.
Having spent 6 months in a hotel room myself, I can attest to what that little bit of hospitality might mean to someone. Secondly, you never know what kind of an impression you can make on someone just by taking a minute to care about what's going on in their life. One of the troops that was assigned to our crew last year was a young airman from Delaware. It was his first TDY, and I kind of looked out for him while he was on our crew.
He came back to Utah TDY again this year and he called me out of the blue a month or so ago. Tonight, he, his roommate, and his GF came over. Then one of her friends came by for a bit before they all left. I don't get to cook much for people. The immigrant spends most of her time with Wendi, and that's as it should be. I rarely have company, but it's not by choice. I like people.
I smoked some ribs today. I needed to fill my propane bottle so I stopped by the U-haul place on Wall. I was going to just stop by the gas station, but something told me to just go to U-haul. When I did after the grocery store, I ran into some of the guys from our Wednesday morning Bible study. This guy walks up to my truck door and asks me, "And how can I help you today?". Without looking up I said I needed to re-fill my propane tank. When I looked up, I saw it was Luke. Kind of made my day. We had a nice talk for a few minutes, and I was able to talk to a couple of other guys as well. You can tell when people are genuinely happy to see you, and I was as happy to see these guys as they were me.
Had I not listened to that unexplainable feeling that I needed to go to the U-haul place, I would have missed out on that little divine appointment.
I said I smoked some ribs for the kids. I also whipped up some potato salad. My friend's GF is from O-town and she's something else. I mean that in a good way. She's a typical girl though. We had a nice time. I showed them my weed patch. They want to have a Texas hold-em party in the near future. I told them they could use my poker chips. We had a nice talk, the three/four of us, and then they left for their evening.
But the important part was building new friendships over a meal. It's a great thing I picked up from the Bible. Jesus did a lot of stuff over a meal. It's a good way to break down walls. It's a great way to make someone feel at home and appreciated, especially when you've been right where they are.
They came over to watch the race, which was rained out. My friend called me out of the blue the other day and asked if I was going to be home tonight. He stepped outside for a few minutes to talk to his friend and his GF told me that he kept telling her that she had to meet me and that he really thought a lot of me. That's nice to know. We're guys. He would have never told me those things.
The story takes a bit of an odd turn in that my cousin's son texted me about ten minutes after the kids left. He asked if he could come over for dinner tomorrow. Of course he can. I am making him roast beef for dinner. He lives in the dorm. He needs a home-cooked meal.
Why this matters is this: We noticed that a lot of young people have been attending our church lately. They're a pretty diverse group; about the only thing they have in common is their age group. In talking to my pastor, I suggested we cook them a meal, sit down with them and talk to them about what their needs are. Sometimes you get it right.
My workbook says that you look for what God is doing and you adjust your life to that. Apparently, food, young people, and ministering to people are good things. I made sure I took a little bit of time to tell the kids about my walk two weeks ago.
I was a little lonely today. I didn't get to see the person I wanted to the most, but God brought me visitors to remind me that what I have is what I need right now. Sharing a meal with people and showing them hospitality; the Bible says that when you show hospitality to strangers, sometimes you entertain Angels without even knowing it. Was any of the group an angel? Probably not. Just some hungry kids eager to just sit down and enjoy some conversation for a while.
To set up the story, I have to way back in the wayback machine to the first time we were deployed to Bangor, Maine in the fall of 1990. We were helping ferry stuff to the Persian Gulf region because Iraq invaded Kuwait. For those that don't know, the United States Air Force has been actively fighting wars since 1990. A lot of it was just called "enforcing a no-fly zone", but flying missions is flying missions and takes its' toll on the equipment.
Anyway, a friend of mine met a very nice young woman who was kind enough to invite us to her home for a meal. When you're TDY, restaurants are normally where you eat, or the chow hall if you're on a big enough base. After a week or so, a home-cooked meal starts to sound pretty good.
Having spent 6 months in a hotel room myself, I can attest to what that little bit of hospitality might mean to someone. Secondly, you never know what kind of an impression you can make on someone just by taking a minute to care about what's going on in their life. One of the troops that was assigned to our crew last year was a young airman from Delaware. It was his first TDY, and I kind of looked out for him while he was on our crew.
He came back to Utah TDY again this year and he called me out of the blue a month or so ago. Tonight, he, his roommate, and his GF came over. Then one of her friends came by for a bit before they all left. I don't get to cook much for people. The immigrant spends most of her time with Wendi, and that's as it should be. I rarely have company, but it's not by choice. I like people.
I smoked some ribs today. I needed to fill my propane bottle so I stopped by the U-haul place on Wall. I was going to just stop by the gas station, but something told me to just go to U-haul. When I did after the grocery store, I ran into some of the guys from our Wednesday morning Bible study. This guy walks up to my truck door and asks me, "And how can I help you today?". Without looking up I said I needed to re-fill my propane tank. When I looked up, I saw it was Luke. Kind of made my day. We had a nice talk for a few minutes, and I was able to talk to a couple of other guys as well. You can tell when people are genuinely happy to see you, and I was as happy to see these guys as they were me.
Had I not listened to that unexplainable feeling that I needed to go to the U-haul place, I would have missed out on that little divine appointment.
I said I smoked some ribs for the kids. I also whipped up some potato salad. My friend's GF is from O-town and she's something else. I mean that in a good way. She's a typical girl though. We had a nice time. I showed them my weed patch. They want to have a Texas hold-em party in the near future. I told them they could use my poker chips. We had a nice talk, the three/four of us, and then they left for their evening.
But the important part was building new friendships over a meal. It's a great thing I picked up from the Bible. Jesus did a lot of stuff over a meal. It's a good way to break down walls. It's a great way to make someone feel at home and appreciated, especially when you've been right where they are.
They came over to watch the race, which was rained out. My friend called me out of the blue the other day and asked if I was going to be home tonight. He stepped outside for a few minutes to talk to his friend and his GF told me that he kept telling her that she had to meet me and that he really thought a lot of me. That's nice to know. We're guys. He would have never told me those things.
The story takes a bit of an odd turn in that my cousin's son texted me about ten minutes after the kids left. He asked if he could come over for dinner tomorrow. Of course he can. I am making him roast beef for dinner. He lives in the dorm. He needs a home-cooked meal.
Why this matters is this: We noticed that a lot of young people have been attending our church lately. They're a pretty diverse group; about the only thing they have in common is their age group. In talking to my pastor, I suggested we cook them a meal, sit down with them and talk to them about what their needs are. Sometimes you get it right.
My workbook says that you look for what God is doing and you adjust your life to that. Apparently, food, young people, and ministering to people are good things. I made sure I took a little bit of time to tell the kids about my walk two weeks ago.
I was a little lonely today. I didn't get to see the person I wanted to the most, but God brought me visitors to remind me that what I have is what I need right now. Sharing a meal with people and showing them hospitality; the Bible says that when you show hospitality to strangers, sometimes you entertain Angels without even knowing it. Was any of the group an angel? Probably not. Just some hungry kids eager to just sit down and enjoy some conversation for a while.
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