Is This Seat Taken?

Saturday was a busy day.

Saturday was a long day.

Saturday was divided into two major parts:

           Celebration #1 - Party for PJB's sixth bday
           Celebration #2 - Partying for Isaiah's fourteenth bday

The former consisted of a conventional birthday party at our church -  complete with lots of food,
lots of friends both school aged and adult, and cleanup/setup/and a full week's worth of six year old anticipation~!

The latter was a slightly impromptu time of driving through the boondocks looking for Wharton Furnace to find Shephard Rd to take Isaiah and three friends to pick up two young ladies to bring along for a time of mall fun and dinner followed up by a movie.

Well - said trip to the boondocks cut into my free time plan for when I initially dropped them off at the mall, so pulling out of the parking lot and feeling tired and unsure as to what to do? I thought, "Wendy's chili and a large diet coke." I also thought about having a book with me and wasting an hour in a fairly constructive way.

After picking up my tray

I sat down by a window and noticed an elderly man sitting by himself across the room from me.
We met eyes and smiled at one another and then I did something BOLD, COURAGOUS and CRAZY! I picked up my tray, walked over to his and asked if he would mind having lunch with me!

He had brilliant eyes and they twinkled with delight and he motioned to the empty seat. I sat down across from him and began a time of focused questioning  and engrossed listening! He had so many wonderful stories and memories to share, mostly about his adoring wife who had passed away a few years ago. You should've seen the LOVE in that man's beautiful eyes. It was priceless, this moment we shared.
All too soon it was time for me to go retrieve teenagers so we shook hands and parted ways and we both were so incredibly blessed - now if I had yielded to fear or my social anxieties? I would've missed a life-highlight moment.

God is so good and I am so grateful that when we step out in faith and listen to that still small voice,
there is a purpose and a plan and many times just joyous blessings waiting.