Denny's

We took the girls for a very early morning dentist appointment last week. We had a great appointment and my cavity-free kids did a fantastic job. As a special treat, we treated ourselves to breakfast at Denny's. We piled ourselves into one of the gigantic booths and had a royal pancake feast. We really had a great time.

Scott took the kids to the car and I went to the register to pay. Our waitress was also the cashier. This was our conversation as she rang me up...

Her: I was telling my waitress friend, 'I'm waiting on this family that actually looks like they love each other!' and she said 'Really? We don't see that very often.'

Me: Really? That's too bad.

Her: Yeah, I told her, 'they're talking and laughing and really look like they're enjoying each others' company!'

Me: Thanks. I've always thought that yours would be an interesting job because I think people are so interesting. You get to see all types.

Her: You just wouldn't believe. We don't see too many families like yours.

Me: Thank you. Have a great day!

So, I get to the car and tell Scott all about how the waitresses had been talking about us. He says, 'so did you tell them that it's because we love Jesus?' Well, of course not. Didn't even cross my mind, to be honest.

Well, in the several days since then, I think that the Lord has been bringing this to my mind and talking to me about my family in restaurants. While we pray together at home, we never bless our food while out in public. Never have and I've never really given it much thought. I think that the Lord is using Denny's to teach me that we should. We get a lot of attention when we're out. I have four beautiful daughters and a very handsome husband. He has blessed us beyond measure and we (usually) live like we're grateful. It's attractive to folks.

I think that the Lord is teaching me that we should pray together while we're out. Not so much for my family, though that's vitally important, it's as much for all the people who are watching. Kind of indirect witnessing, if you will. I'm not talking at all about making superficial gestures of faith just because people are watching, nor am I supposed to care about the opinions of others. I'm just talking about demonstrating in a subtle way that the joy that they see in us is the result of our relationship with God.

Just so we're clear, there are MANY occasions when we're out that there's very LITTLE joy and very MUCH drama. In fact, today was a good example of when we all needed a little more Jesus. But, perhaps even my bad days could be used to shed a little light in a dark world....

I was grateful for the instruction. I don't want to be self-righteous or boastful in any sense, but thought the lesson itself was worth passing along for thought.