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Friday, February 20

Waffle House and the Holy Spirit -- Part 1:Becky

I intended to write this on Saturday. Then more things happened and I decided to wait till Sunday. Then even better things happened so I pushed it to Monday. Then I had a case of the Mondays and almost decided not to write anything at all because of the terrible day I had just had.
On Tuesday I finally set out to write an account of the weekend and its events only to be assaulted with distraction after distraction after… Ooh a squirrel. Yay ADD.
Wednesday, I had a migraine and didn’t do…anything.
Thursday morning I ate a balanced breakfast and watched Neil Cavuto. Then I read almost all of the stimulus bill and educated myself on Socialism(simply for the sake of knowing what everyone‘s talking about). In the afternoon I baked Scottish Shortbread Cookies and recounted some recent events to Kathleen. Then I learned how to salsa (the dance, not the dip - though occasionally there were dips involved), taught Chartlon how to polka (the dance, not the dots), and thoroughly embarrassed myself when it came to swing (the dance, not the abomination -- though some may call my moves abominable). When I got home I had to clean the kitchen, so I salsa danced with my Swiffer till it died and continued to salsa afterwards.

So now, since my “precious”, little, annoyingly curious schnauzer ate half a Dove chocolate bar and is whining to be let out of his crate so that he may reek havoc, I can not sleep. I can not sleep, so I will write.
(I’m in such a writing mood… hence the forever long intro.)

A few weeks ago my church (Briarwood Presbyterian) held three classes to teach a new method of explaining the gospel using just one verse that was simple, direct, and relatively easy to understand. All you need is the verse, a pen and something to write on. I’ve been praying about how I could best utilize this tool and for some time sort of felt like it was pretty useless to me - most of the people on my “top 5” list had been raised in the church and had heard this all before. So I asked God to show me how I could use it, or anything really to really show them what it’s all about. I asked him to not just give me opportunities but to smack me in the face with them so
that there would be no mistaking, or missing one.

Be careful what you pray for…

Last Friday night I left the house around 10:30 to go hang out with my brother at his new apartment, but his plans changed, so I decided to go make cupcakes with EmKay instead. She was still out on her date with Jared though, and I had some time to waste so I made a pit stop at my favorite restaurant -- you guessed it, Waffle House. I was by myself and felt sort of awkward just sitting there eating my hash browns staring at the cleverly worded signs for hours, so I took the only book I had with me (my green ESV Bible). My waitress seemed a bit busy so I sat on a bar stool and started flipping through my bible, told her I had plenty of time - no rush.

The first thing Becky (waitress) said to me was, “Hey, is that an English Standard Version?”
You wanted a chance? You got it. Don’t let it pass you by.

“Uh.. Yeah. Yeah it is.” As she rushed to help another customer, I was definitely a little dazed. Like… ‘Did she really just ask me that?’

Throughout the next hour or so we had tiny snippets of conversation all revolving around different churches she had visited looking for the right one. I told her about Briarwood and asked if she’d ever visited. She hadn’t - thought it was too big and intimidating.
Ask her Anna. Come on, tell her you’ll go with her.
I didn’t ask.

There was another Waffle House employee who kept coming in and out of the conversation. He had been to a few of these churches with her and while her attitude towards them seemed one of disappointment and frustration, his was more of a mockery(honestly, I don‘t blame him - I‘ve been there myself).

To make a long story slightly shorter than it could be, it became apparent to me that she was looking to be convinced that Christianity is something more than an act people wake up early for on Sundays or a crutch when something goes wrong that you put back in the closet once you’re healed. It seemed that he would not be convinced - that his heart was rather hardened. There were several times that I really disagreed with the things he said, but kept my scaredy cat mouth shut.

You always have to do things the hard way, don‘t you?

My pen that I had been doodling on my napkin with busted. All over my hand. My favorite pen, with the inscription on it from 7th grade, that had been available this whole time to use as a tool to share with this girl… busted. “Lovely,” I thought, “just lovely.” When I returned from washing what I could off of myself I saw Becky leaning beside the grill sort of playing with her apron.

She’s not busy anymore. You have nowhere else to go, nothing else to talk about, and nothing else to do. I’ve practically arranged this one on a silver platter, garnish and all. Stop procrastinating and just…show… her.
“But I don’t have a… “
Oh stop it. She’s a waitress. Trust me. She has a pen.
“Ok, ok. I get it. Gimme a second to remember it all.”
What makes you think you’re going to? You can’t even remember what you ate for breakfast this morning. Go ahead, test me. I’ll give you the words. Just do it now, while you have the chance.
“But it’s so awkward. I don’t even know her. She’s working…”


“Hey, do you need a pen?” Ha, ha, ha. Very funny. OK, I get you. Loud and clear.

Thank you, a pen would be awesome. Actually, do you have a few minutes so that I can show you something I learned the other day in church?” I had to look up the verse. (D’oh. There is no Romans 23:6, you dyslexic genius. Nope, but that last portion of Romans 16 sure did calm your nerves, didn‘t it? Yeah, gotta love your sense of humor working with your incredible timing.) I fumbled terribly with the questions and couldn’t draw to save my life, but it’s cool because every time I really started to get lost she piped up with a cool observation or was called to her other table and I had time to refocus. I’m telling you it’s a miracle that she understood through all my scribbles and jumbled up questions.

After I finished the diagram, we talked about it some more and she asked me if I could show it to the other waiter… And the cook. So I did. Mostly because she had already called them over.
You said to slap you in the face with opportunitieS… that’s plural - here’s plural.

It went exponentially smoother than before and they seemed to grasp it, but still were rather skeptical. Everyone started getting really busy with customers.
By this time it was late. Really late. So I kinda asked if I could go on now before I messed it up… waited… nothing. So I wrote down my phone numbers, email address, Myspace page… left it with my payment and tip, waved goodbye and walked out. Shaking… Totally shaking.

Skip Saturday.

Sunday morning, I‘m getting ready for choir, 6 am, my cell phone buzzes. Text message from an unknown number. “Hey Anna! This is Becky from Waffle House. My shift ends at 7 - what service are you going to at Briarwood? I’d love to come with you”

See? Wasn’t that easy?

So Becky came with me to Sunday school, Church and lunch afterwards. Along with her friend Brie. She says she’ll come again, Brie too.

Ask and it shall be given. My Father will send a Counselor in my name to remind you of what I have said. Go, NOW and make disciples - speak My Word boldly - even to the ends of the earth.

Yes, even to Waffle House.

4 comments:

Rick said...

This is the first time I've seen Waffle House and the Holy Spirit used in the same sentence. Nice reading. I worked at Waffle House restaurants for years and it was always a place for pleasant conversation and coffee.

Brock said...

Great post, Anna! Thanks for sharing and having the courage in the first place to follow God's lead.

Brock said...

Hey, this got me thinking. I looked up Romans 6:23 and I'm curious what the drawing looks like that goes with it. I know it's probably harder to write out, but maybe take a picture of it and post it on FB? or email it to me? Would be much appreciated if you have the time!

Annabelle said...

Hey Rick -- thanks for the comment -- I've been reading some of your posts and I'm really excited about reading more in the future!

Brock -- yeah I've actually had a ton of my friends ask to see the illustration - I'm going to make a video and post it on Facebook before the end of the week --I'll be sure to tag you in it so you'll get a notification. :)