This Happened To Me Last Night

[mulls]

Here's Christianity in my life. This happened last night exactly as I describe, and I felt the need to type it up today and share it. Maybe not much of a debate...though I'm sure something can be found to argue about. But here's who I am. Hopefully it will encourage you, as it displays the Sovereignty of God through the little things.

Love,

the evangelical



Scene: Last night, 9:15ish. Wanting to watch Monday Night Football, but excruciatingly hungry, and completely unsatisfied with the paltry amount of food in this house.

Solution: Drive to Burger King on Rte. 31 for a #2 double-whopper value meal, [i]go large[/i], with a Coke.

My mouth waters. I love the word "satiated" and I love it more when I can describe myself with it.

I go outside to warm up my wretched car, and notice that the inside of my windshield is frozen. This is not surprising. This is one of the first of the roughly 2,000 more occurrences of this seasonal phenomena before spring rolls around. I angrily pop my trunk and rummage through the junk looking for my ice scraper. The darkness is overwhelming, and the light in my trunk can best be described as "lack thereof." As I fumble around, I clumsily knock over a box filled with various Campus Crusade paraphernalia, and the first thing I pick up is a bible, the paperback kind which are designed to be given away for free. Great. Now I feel guilty, as this bible is wasting away in a box in my trunk when it is clearly meant to live a much more noble purpose.

Declaring myself a terrible person, I stomp back inside the house, resigned to the fact that I will need to let my wretched car's wretched heating system slowly melt away the wretched frostbitten windshield.

Ten minutes late I emerge, this time grateful because I backed my car into the driveway and can simply pull out and drive forward, shaving precious seconds off of hungry travel time, which is the worst kind of travel time. I am also pleased that my CD player is not turning off every 30 seconds or so, and I am able to enjoy a few full-length songs from my new Procussions CD.

As I arrive at BK, three cars immediately pull in via the alternate entrance, and all proceed to the drive-thru. It seems I'll be ordering inside.

I enter the empty, depressed BK, with no one inside save for three workers. I order my #2 double-whopper value meal, [i]go large[/i], with a Coke. Forgot to say "no tomatoes," a minor setback. Then I wait.

And wait.

And wait.

"The burgers are cooking, if you sit down I'll call you when they're ready."

Great. Where am I, Duchess? How dare they cook my food fresh. If I wanted fresh food, I.....nevermind, I had no other options.

So I sit at the table nearest to the counter, and observe Other Guy walk through the door. He orders, and is also told to sit and wait. He comes and sits with me. I find this sort of odd, being that people these days just don't do that, but I'm not at all uncomfortable with it, because it is something that I myself would have no problem doing. So other guy sits down with this perfect stranger, opening with "They must be busy." I reply "Yeah, must be," with raised eyebrows and the proper voice intonation/inflection to assure the guy that I truly agreed with him, and was open to further conversation, and was not just blowing him off. Being that he sat with me, I expected him to carry the majority of any possible conversation. But we were silent, for a few long moments. He breaks the silence with "Gee I don't know why this place doesn't stay open 24hours like McDonald's across the street." I reply, "Yeah, I don't know" in a cordial manner, but feigning interest at this point.

We continue to sit and wait, in silence. I wonder if God is up to something. If He is, He better show me something, because I've got nothing right now. I'm not one to bring up a conversation with the Lord out of nowhere, in a pushy manner. But if there is a glimmer of light protruding through the cracks, I will be quick to kick down that door and get into it (take "glimmer of light" to mean "the slightest possible interest").

So I wonder. Then I think about simply not bothering either of us, and just leaving. As my order is called up, I am faced with an immediate decision, because my food was placed in a to-go bag, rather than on a for-here tray. I can easily say "Well, have a good night," get up, grab my food, and never look back. I make a slooooow 7-pace walk to the counter, pondering my options. Finally, it's "man up, nothing to lose, give him some company."

So be it.

I sit back down, and as I unpack my food, other guy's order is called. He begins to unpack his food. With my heart to always make people as comfortable at-ease as possible (except my good friends who I routinely terrorize), I extend my right hand- "What's your name?"

"Robert"

"Nice to meet you Robert, I'm Sean."

Robert speaks very slowly, with an accent from nowhere, in the most simple of terms.

I begin to process some things. I've got a knack for observation/reading people/discernment. My take is that Robert is in his early 50's, lives alone, has very few friends or family, has the IQ of a child, and probably did not drive here. He's likely very lonely. It's not strange that he would sit with this perfect stranger.

Robert strikes up the prototypical first-time-we've-met conversation. He asks if I live around here. We get into it. Robert works at a restaurant, lives close by, and has four sisters that are scattered all over the country. The closest relative is his sister in Massachusetts. Family observation: check. I reciprocate in answering the same requisite first-time questions.

We talk about our food. He wonders why McDonald's doesn't serve onion rings. Then we are quiet for awhile. He breaks in every once in awhile with the most random observations. At this point I believe I read him spot-on. But I have nothing to offer him. Guilt sets in. What do I say?

I finish my dinner, unsure of what to do next. I bide my time with a big arm stretch and "Boy I need to let that settle for a minute." Robert is mildly amused, and chuckles at my assertion. I pray.

Still have nothing to say.......but.......
[i]
***Ding ding ding!!! We have a winner!! Sean, welcome to our show, "The Sovereign Hand of God" where everything happens for a reason, something which you know quite well and always tell people about, but are usually too dim to see it in your own life!!***[/i]

I finally feel like God let me into the theater, and I'm allowed to see how this story is playing out. I remember stumbling upon the bible in my trunk. "Robert, I'm gonna get something out of my car for you, be right back."

Robert plays it cool. Like, Dylan McKay-cool, as if he fully expected me to have something for him this whole time.

I pop the trunk, grab the bible, grab a 4 spiritual laws booklet out of the front seat arm rest, and hustle back inside. It was freeeeezing out.

I set the gifts down. "Robert, do you know what this is"? He pauses, and reads:

"The....Holy Bible."

"Right. Do you have one of these?"

"Not like that one!"

This opens the floodgates to our first consistent, back and forth dialogue of the evening. Robert asks some questions. He believes in God. He used to meet up with some guy alot, and they would talk about these kinds of things, and he gave Robert a bible, but it was all 'different.' He tried to think of the name of the people...."Juh- oh what's their name....Juh- Jehovah's Witness!" Aha.

I tried to explain to Robert, in the most simple way I could, some difference between the JW bible and the one I had presented to him, along with some different doctrinal points. The conversation flowed beautifully, on par with some that I've had with intelligent 7- and 8-year olds. I briefly share my testimony with Robert, and walk him through the booklet, assuring him that it contains the same basic message as the bible I just gave him, just in an easier to understand way. Robert is intrigued.

He wants to know if "my people" ever go to people's homes and to talk about this stuff with them. I tell him that in a way, it's my job to train people how to do just that. He's not satisfied with this answer. He wants to know if I know anyone that would come to his apartment regularly and talk with him.
[i]
***Thanks, Robert. Thanks for giving me this opportunity to love you and minister to you, when my first inclination was to walk out the door and never see you again. Thanks for having the guts to sit with a perfect stranger. Thanks for subtly letting your need be known. Thanks for helping me to remember who God is.***[/i]

"Robert, I would be happy to come to your place and talk sometime."

Robert is excited. I find the receipt in my bag so that I can write Robert's address down on it, but he stops me. He lets me know that in his apartment he has a "card" that has his name and address printed on it, and that he would give one to me to keep.

Pause. Common sense says: "What's the point of that, just tell me your address." Pause again. Discernment says: "He probably can't remember his own address, and he probably needs a ride home, remember?" Right. Always trust the gut.

We arrive at Robert's apartment about 5 minutes later (that was a far walk for him in the cold). It's pretty much as I expect it to be. Old furniture and carpet, pretty clean, pictures of his deceased parents everywhere. He has a cool cat named Ralphie who couldn't stop sneezing, one of the cutest things I've seen recently. Robert was mildly worried. I remember that Ralphie, while friendly, probably wasn't used to company and all of the unusual scents that were just brought into his home. Maybe I'm the reason for the sneezin.

Robert gave me the tour, for which I didn't have to do anything but rotate my torso to see everything. He sat down at his computer. "I have a computer, do you? Even if the phone rings, I can still be on the internet!"

Robert is grateful for something which I am not. I see more conviction coming at me full-steam ahead.

Robert show me how he uses his computer. He turns it on, and opens up his web browser to check his email. "Hmm, what was my password? Oh yeah.....Sean, how do you spell _____?"

Trust.

Like a child.

He logged on, and deleted some junk mail. He read an invitation to a Christmas party to be held on December 29. "What day of the week is that?"

"Friday."

He politely declined the invitation to the party, since he has to work on Fridays. He wasn't broken up about it at all. I pick up on a sense of duty and loyalty from Robert. His reply is two sentences long. It took him 5 minutes to type with his right index finger, including asking me some basic spelling and grammar questions. He's pumped when he finishes.

Robert grabbed a business card out of his wallet and handed it to me. It's from the guy who helped put his computer together, and he could also help me out if I needed it. Then he asks me for my email address, so he can write it down. No problem. I spell it out:

"S-E-A-N-dot-M-U-L-L-S-at-G-M-A-I-L-dot-C-O-M"

Beautiful. Now he wants to enter it into his online address book. I narrate the medley again, music to his ears:

"S-E-A-N-dot-M-U-L-L-S-at-G-M-A-I-L-dot-C-O-M"

Enter.

He searches for it in the list, to make sure it's there. It's there. I ask him if he wouldn't mind send me an email right now, so that I would have his address on my computer. I know fully well how long this is going to take. He obliges, and types it out, asking me if it's ok. It's perfect, as perfect in my inbox now as it was on his screen last night:



[i][center]Hi Sean
It was nice to meet.

Robert[/center][/i]


I love.

It's getting late. Robert takes me over to his magazine rack, and shows me the Jehovah's Witness bible and a book from them called "What the Bible Really Teaches." He had been growing more angry with the Jehovah's Witness stuff as the night was wearing on, and it was not due to anything I said. He just sensed it was "different," in a bad way.

"Do I need this stuff anymore?"

"Probably not, since I just gave you the real deal."

Robert picks up a magazine published by the Watchtower, and like Superman with a phonebook, proceeds to rip it right in half.

"Whoa Robert...."

He grabs a pen and scribbles out his name which was inscribed on the inside covers of both the JW bible and the book. He declares that he has no use for them anymore, and asks what he should do with them. Being the student of religion that I am, I offer to take them off of his hands for him. He graciously assents to my request.

"I've been sober 4 years." Robert asks if I drink. I tell him I used to. He assures me that if I ever find myself to have a drinking problem, or if any of my friends have drinking problems, that we can call him, because he knows how to help. He's been through it. And he offers to get us in touch with a professional counselor that he know. I say thank you. I'm sincere.

I'm getting antsy now, wanting to spend time with Robert and give him company, but also realizing that this could go on all night. In the final leg of the extended apartment tour, he takes me back to his computer desk, opens up a drawer, and searches out an index card with four important dates written on him. One is the date he quit drinking four years ago. The next is the date of his heart attack, two years ago. The next is the date of him moving into his current apartment, one year ago. "It's important to remember."

"You're right."

Our last dialogue is comprised of figuring out a good day to meet up again. I don't have much of a schedule, but Robert does, and my friends that I would like to have tag along also do. Unable to come to a decision, I promise Robert I would call or email him in the next few days. Even if I can't figure out a day for my friends to come, I assure him that at least I would make it. He is more than satisfied with this conclusion.

We shake hands, bid each other goodnight, and I walk out of his apartment, down the stairs and out to my car which is cruelly awaiting me with another frostbitten windshield. Concerning the last two hours of my life, I feel nothing. I'm grateful for such a wonderful opportunity, and I'm grateful that God still smiles on me and wishes to use me and work in me, but it's certainly not a warm fuzzy thing.

I've been feeling nothing lately towards things which I tend to feel much for. 'Tis but a season, I suppose. And I also suppose that Robert will be used as much in my life as I may be used in his, if the Lord wills.

I went out for a double-cheeseburger. I know I came back with a double portion of something. I'm not sure what it is yet.

[i]Go large. [/i]

[mod]email address edited. [/mod]

Edited December 6, 2006 by homeschoolmom

[sweetpea316]

What a beautiful story. Thanks so much for sharing it.
God truly does work in mysterious ways...

[homeschoolmom]

Nice story.

For the record... when I was little, McDonald's did have onion rings-- the good kind with a whole ring of onion rather than onion bits. By the time I was in about second grade or so, they got rid of 'em... And now I'm hungry.

[Thy Geekdom Come]

[quote name='mulls' post='1136149' date='Dec 6 2006, 12:56 AM']
"Nice to meet you Robert, I'm Sean."
[/quote]

Wait...

Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait.

Your real name isn't mulls?

[suuran]

Awesome, awesome story...thanks for taking the time to type that up .

I'm not sure I would have had nearly the same courage....

[Balthazor]

mulls, you are such a sweet-heart.

[mulls]

[quote name='Raphael' post='1136391' date='Dec 6 2006, 11:00 AM']
Wait...

Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait.

Your real name isn't mulls?
[/quote]



ummmmm.......


*runs away*

[Azriel]

That was awesome.

[scardella]

Unless mulls is ok with having it up there, it might be a good idea to blank out the last names...

[prose]

cool story. Thanks.

[xTrishaxLynnx]

Awesome story... sort of reminds me of someone I know. Very inspirational.

[mulls]

[quote name='scardella' post='1136480' date='Dec 6 2006, 01:44 PM']
Unless mulls is ok with having it up there, it might be a good idea to blank out the last names...
[/quote]


oh, true.

somebody go for it.

[homeschoolmom]

Done.

[rkwright]

mulls I'm so glad to have read your story. It has brightened my day! Sometimes I get caught up in the apologetics aspect of the faith, and its so amazing to hear your story. After all the discussions on different issues, this is Christianity in action. You are truly a role model for me, and I hope to be called your brother in Christ!

[Groo the Wanderer]

Amazing story. I wish I had the courage you do. I am so anti-social at times, especially with the peeps that need socialization (?) the most.

I guess I am afraid that either they will see it as pity and be upset or that they will turn out to be a nutjob and murdalize me, leaving my family daddyless.


I will pray to be more like you. Whatever God's will for me, it shall be done. Your story is truly and inspiration.