I had lunch with some new colleagues. This afternoon, I had the opportunity to share the plenary stage as we presented for Imagine No Malaria. I was so looking forward to this evening at Conference to hear Rev. Adam Hamilton preach and to listen to Bethune Cookman Concert Chorale. It was going to be great! I left early to get a good seat and then...
Because I was so tired from getting up at 4:15, I needed a good cup of high-test caffeine coffee! So I headed to Starbucks to go through the drive through and get my cup of joe. As I was getting ready to pull into Starbucks, I hit a hole and instantly my tire blew. It instantly flattened.
I barely got off the street and pulled to the side, however, I was slightly blocking some traffic, making it an inconvenience for others to pull in. The stares came! They thought I was just trying to claim that spot as my own.
Finally I pulled into a spot in the Starbucks parking lot in downtown Daytona Beach. I got out my jack, and lowered the spare tire. I got out my wrench to take off the lug nuts. It wasn't budging. Meanwhile...I am in my suit still! This woman stood there for a second and said, do you need help? I said, "No, I'll be fine." She replied, "At least drink some water, you will dehydrate! I'm going inside Starbucks to get you a cup of cold water." She came out and got me a cup that tasted SO good!I then called tow assistance and she disappeared. Once the agent told me it would be an hour before assistance would arrive, I went inside to get my coffee since I wasn't going to Annual Conference now to hear Adam Hamilton or the Concert Chorale.
This woman was sitting there with her son. She invited me to sit with them and I did. We shared a cup of coffee and began to talk. Mary Ann and her son Nate are new to Florida. They lived in New York City and she was a high school science teacher that got laid off a few years ago. She was still trying to find work, but finds it difficult as she has seizures on a regular basis for an accident years ago. She had such a passion for teaching as she told me story after story of her classrooms.
I asked about her family. She only has the son, Nate, who is 17 and will be a Senior. She lost her mom to cancer two years ago. She began to cry and we talked through her grief and the loneliness and somewhat hopelessness she is going through now.
An hour and some minutes passed conversing with this woman I just met, who came to my aid when I needed a cup of cold water to drink after paining myself to get the tire off. It was so nice to spend this time at Starbucks; it was random, not on the "Schedule," and it was a God moment, because God saw fit for me to be able to minister to Mary Ann and for Mary Ann to minister to me.
I wish I had more of these random Starbucks moments in everyday life, an opportunity to bless and be blessed. Mary Ann, I pray that you find hope in the near future. Thanks for the cup of water, it initiated much more that just a kind gesture to me, I am grateful. Amen.
Galatians 6:9 "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."
