My youngest daughter and I received the most wonderful blessing yesterday in the most ordinary of places.
We were in the drive through line at Jack in the Box; don't judge I am quite addicted to their Monster Tacos!
We were next in line to pay and Tessa and I happened to look over into the window. I guess just being nosy and seeing who was inside eating. It was somewhat crowded since it was lunch time, there were families, a table of two ladies enjoying a conversation and then...this older gentleman with a cowboy hat on. He seemed to have such a soft face and deep eyes that made you want to know more about him. When are eyes met he flung his arm up in the air, put a big smile on his face and waved as if he hadn't seen us in a very long time.
I immediately smiled back and waved as if I hadn't seen him either. I remember mouthing "Hi, how are you?" As I was waving I glanced over at Tessa and she was smiling and waving to. I continued waving and said "Tessa do we know him?" she replied "I don't think so Mom." "Hmmm" I said "Well he does have a familiar face, maybe we do know him? Either way, what a wonderful man." Then I looked back and he was gone. I thought to myself, that was so nice; and wait where did he go?
I still had a smile on my face when I pulled up to the window to pay. The young man said "Hello, that will be $8.54 mam." Just as he finished his sentence and my arm was out the window with a $10 bill, the manager walked up behind him with a smile bigger than mine and said, "Mam, the gentleman inside has paid for your meal."
"Oh my gosh, really?" I said, "That was so incredibly nice of him. What is his name?" The manager replied, "Actually...I don't know, we just call him The Cowboy." (Now I knew where he went...to pay for our meal!) The manager continued, "He comes in every week and picks one person and pays for their meal." I was so touched.
"Wow, well please tell him that I said thank you. We are very blessed by his kindness, please tell him God bless." He replied, "I sure will." and walked away. I looked at the young man and gave him the $10 bill. "will you please take this and use it to pay for the person behind us." Of course there was no one in line (my luck) and the young man pointed that out. ;) So I said to just use for whoever comes through next. He kind of looked at me funny and I said, "You know, just pay it forward. Let's keep the blessing going." He agreed and tucked it under the cash register.
I turned to Tessa and she had such a big smile on her face. "Wow, that was really nice of him Mom, he didn't even know us." "I know sweetie, that was super nice of him."
We've done it before, blessed someone...paid for the person in line behind us, paid for a meal for someone in a restaurant, gave a store clerk a gift card for being so helpful, held a door open for someone... It always feels good to do that. But this was probably the only time someone had did it for us. It felt really good to, but in a different way, in a way that made me think to myself, hmmm maybe there is hope in our world. Sometimes with everything going on, all of the bad news you hear, it only takes a random act of kindness from a complete stranger to make you start feeling a little better. Of course all of the other stuff doesn't go away, but it certainly makes it easier.
To be truthful, I was actually more touched by the wave from a complete stranger than the meal he just bought us.
The young man handed us our food and the manager came back to the window and said "He said, you are very welcome, he was happy to do it. God has blessed him and he wants to bless others. He also said to tell you God bless."
"Again, please tell him we said thank you." and I started to drive away. I looked at Tessa and said "You know what? I feel like we should go in there and thank him in person, what do you think?" She replied with a great big smile on her face "Yes! I do to." So I parked the car, looked down at what I was wearing. Ugh, I was dressed to go to the barn in a ratty old t-shirt and shorts. But you know what...who cares, and in we walked.
I walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulder. "Excuse me, I am so sorry to interrupt your meal; but we just wanted to come inside and personally thank you for your kindness. You truly blessed us. Thank you."
The man stood up and turned around and held out his hand. As I shook it I noticed how soft they were, and they were warm to. His eyes lit up and you could just see the kindness in them. He said "You are welcome, I was happy to do it." again I said, "It was so kind of you, thank you so much. We just couldn't drive off without telling you in person."
He looked at Tessa and I and said, "Do you know why I paid for your meal?" I replied, "No, why?" his answer, "Because when I waved to you, you waved back." With tears in my eyes I looked at him, shrugged my shoulders and said, "Why wouldn't I? You waved to us."
As I stood there trying to understand how the simplest of gestures could ever go unanswered, he said, "Do you know what else? You are the first to ever come inside and say thank you. Everyone else just drives off."
I smiled at him and said, "Well, that is so sad, because I wouldn't have missed an opportunity to meet the man that just blessed our lives. Thank you again for your kindness."
He looked at me with his kind eyes and said, "I lost my true love in 2012, she was a beautiful woman and fought a hard battle with cancer. She died on November 7th. If she had lived just 15 days longer we would have been married for 50 years." I looked at him and told him how sorry I was for his loss. He continued to tell me about how he was hurting and asking God why? He would lay in bed in pain and mourning her loss. One night when he was asking God to help make sense of his loss and the unbelievable pain he was feeling in his heart the Lord said to him. "Her mission was complete and I needed her home. When your mission is complete you to will die but not until then." he asked God "What, what is my mission?" and God replied, "To bless someone every day, a complete stranger you have never met, do this everyday." And so he does just that.
He went on to tell us a little more about his wife, showed us a ring he had made in her honor that had the stone from her wedding ring mounted proudly in the center. We chatted right there in the middle of the restaurant.
It is romantic in the sense that he is doing God's will so that one day he will be reunited with his one true love. Of course this hit me in my own heart as I had just lost my father in December and he to wanted to be reunited with his one true love. I felt as if God was reaffirming to me that they were indeed together again. And I knew without a shadow of a doubt that this man would be one day as well.
I smiled back my tears and said to him, "What is your name?" he told me, but I am not going to tell you, because I think the name that the manager gave him "The Cowboy" makes it so much more poignant.
I have a book that a business man whom I look up to very much always had in his office. It's called Cowboy Ethics by James P. Owen - What Wall Street Can Learn from the Code of the West.
You might be asking what does that have to do with this story. Well, in the book they say that "Cowboying doesn't build character, it reveals it. What your teacher told you back in first grade still holds true: Anything worth doing is worth doing well." I think that applies to our life. Why live this beautiful life God has given us if we do nothing to help improve it, if we just go through the motions everyday, if we do not reach out to others. Life is worth doing, and it is worth doing well.
You never know whom you will touch and why they need to be touched, but if you follow your spirit it will never steer you wrong. Live everyday with a goal of touching someones life. It doesn't take much, a smile, a friendly wave to a stranger...paying for a meal, no matter how you do it, just do it.
Recently our community lost a young girl to suicide. As I sat praying for her family and thinking to myself how incredibly sad it was for one young girl, with so much life ahead of her, to feel as though that was her only answer. It sent a shock wave through me.
My oldest daughter Samantha had said that it was such a permanent decision on such a temporary time in your life. But to her, at that moment it was all she could bare. What if we reached out more, took notice of each other more? I wonder if perhaps she wouldn't have felt that way. And maybe that's not fair to say, but what harm could happen by being nice to someone? Even if it is someone you have never met. You may never know how you helped them with just the smallest of gestures, but I truly believe that you will.
Samantha came home from the candle light vigil they had for her with tears still in her eyes. She said there were stories after stories that her peers, most of whom she never knew, were sharing of how this young precious girl touched so many lives. The lives of complete strangers. This young girl came up them in school, at the store, in the restroom, would find them crying or looking sad and would simply reach out, touch them on the shoulder or ruffle the hair on their head and say, "Hang in there, it will all be OK." She touched so many lives, lives of people whom she had never met.
While her life may have been incredibly short, she lived her life well, her character was revealed in the simplest of actions. Reaching out to someone and blessing them with a kind word. I wonder how many lives she saved with just those few caring words from a complete stranger?
The last thing I said to my new found friend "The Cowboy" was, "Can I give you a hug?" He smiled and said "Of Course." It was a great hug from a great man. He reached down and looked at Tessa, she opened up her arms and gave him a hug as well. He stepped back, grabbed both of her tiny hands in his warm hands, bent down and brought them to his face and kissed them and said, "Thank you." We said our goodbyes and we both agreed that we would one day meet again both here and in heaven.
Tessa and I walked out holding hands. I looked down at her and she looked up at me and again she said, "Mommy, he was a really nice man." I smiled and said, "He really was sweetie, what a blessing to us to have met him."
What a perfect day.
I challenge you to today, to live your life like The Cowboy. Live your life to bless others. Go out today with the intent of making a complete stranger's day better.
Live, Laugh, Love...but do it well.
Dedicated to The Blessing Cowboy. I truly look forward to seeing you again. Perhaps this time I can buy your lunch. God bless.
We were in the drive through line at Jack in the Box; don't judge I am quite addicted to their Monster Tacos!
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| A blessing can happen anywhere |
I immediately smiled back and waved as if I hadn't seen him either. I remember mouthing "Hi, how are you?" As I was waving I glanced over at Tessa and she was smiling and waving to. I continued waving and said "Tessa do we know him?" she replied "I don't think so Mom." "Hmmm" I said "Well he does have a familiar face, maybe we do know him? Either way, what a wonderful man." Then I looked back and he was gone. I thought to myself, that was so nice; and wait where did he go?
I still had a smile on my face when I pulled up to the window to pay. The young man said "Hello, that will be $8.54 mam." Just as he finished his sentence and my arm was out the window with a $10 bill, the manager walked up behind him with a smile bigger than mine and said, "Mam, the gentleman inside has paid for your meal."
"Oh my gosh, really?" I said, "That was so incredibly nice of him. What is his name?" The manager replied, "Actually...I don't know, we just call him The Cowboy." (Now I knew where he went...to pay for our meal!) The manager continued, "He comes in every week and picks one person and pays for their meal." I was so touched.
"Wow, well please tell him that I said thank you. We are very blessed by his kindness, please tell him God bless." He replied, "I sure will." and walked away. I looked at the young man and gave him the $10 bill. "will you please take this and use it to pay for the person behind us." Of course there was no one in line (my luck) and the young man pointed that out. ;) So I said to just use for whoever comes through next. He kind of looked at me funny and I said, "You know, just pay it forward. Let's keep the blessing going." He agreed and tucked it under the cash register.
I turned to Tessa and she had such a big smile on her face. "Wow, that was really nice of him Mom, he didn't even know us." "I know sweetie, that was super nice of him."
We've done it before, blessed someone...paid for the person in line behind us, paid for a meal for someone in a restaurant, gave a store clerk a gift card for being so helpful, held a door open for someone... It always feels good to do that. But this was probably the only time someone had did it for us. It felt really good to, but in a different way, in a way that made me think to myself, hmmm maybe there is hope in our world. Sometimes with everything going on, all of the bad news you hear, it only takes a random act of kindness from a complete stranger to make you start feeling a little better. Of course all of the other stuff doesn't go away, but it certainly makes it easier.
To be truthful, I was actually more touched by the wave from a complete stranger than the meal he just bought us.
The young man handed us our food and the manager came back to the window and said "He said, you are very welcome, he was happy to do it. God has blessed him and he wants to bless others. He also said to tell you God bless."
"Again, please tell him we said thank you." and I started to drive away. I looked at Tessa and said "You know what? I feel like we should go in there and thank him in person, what do you think?" She replied with a great big smile on her face "Yes! I do to." So I parked the car, looked down at what I was wearing. Ugh, I was dressed to go to the barn in a ratty old t-shirt and shorts. But you know what...who cares, and in we walked.
I walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulder. "Excuse me, I am so sorry to interrupt your meal; but we just wanted to come inside and personally thank you for your kindness. You truly blessed us. Thank you."
The man stood up and turned around and held out his hand. As I shook it I noticed how soft they were, and they were warm to. His eyes lit up and you could just see the kindness in them. He said "You are welcome, I was happy to do it." again I said, "It was so kind of you, thank you so much. We just couldn't drive off without telling you in person."
He looked at Tessa and I and said, "Do you know why I paid for your meal?" I replied, "No, why?" his answer, "Because when I waved to you, you waved back." With tears in my eyes I looked at him, shrugged my shoulders and said, "Why wouldn't I? You waved to us."
As I stood there trying to understand how the simplest of gestures could ever go unanswered, he said, "Do you know what else? You are the first to ever come inside and say thank you. Everyone else just drives off."
I smiled at him and said, "Well, that is so sad, because I wouldn't have missed an opportunity to meet the man that just blessed our lives. Thank you again for your kindness."
He looked at me with his kind eyes and said, "I lost my true love in 2012, she was a beautiful woman and fought a hard battle with cancer. She died on November 7th. If she had lived just 15 days longer we would have been married for 50 years." I looked at him and told him how sorry I was for his loss. He continued to tell me about how he was hurting and asking God why? He would lay in bed in pain and mourning her loss. One night when he was asking God to help make sense of his loss and the unbelievable pain he was feeling in his heart the Lord said to him. "Her mission was complete and I needed her home. When your mission is complete you to will die but not until then." he asked God "What, what is my mission?" and God replied, "To bless someone every day, a complete stranger you have never met, do this everyday." And so he does just that.
He went on to tell us a little more about his wife, showed us a ring he had made in her honor that had the stone from her wedding ring mounted proudly in the center. We chatted right there in the middle of the restaurant.
It is romantic in the sense that he is doing God's will so that one day he will be reunited with his one true love. Of course this hit me in my own heart as I had just lost my father in December and he to wanted to be reunited with his one true love. I felt as if God was reaffirming to me that they were indeed together again. And I knew without a shadow of a doubt that this man would be one day as well.
I smiled back my tears and said to him, "What is your name?" he told me, but I am not going to tell you, because I think the name that the manager gave him "The Cowboy" makes it so much more poignant.
I have a book that a business man whom I look up to very much always had in his office. It's called Cowboy Ethics by James P. Owen - What Wall Street Can Learn from the Code of the West.
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| Worth the read, and the pictures are remarkable |
You never know whom you will touch and why they need to be touched, but if you follow your spirit it will never steer you wrong. Live everyday with a goal of touching someones life. It doesn't take much, a smile, a friendly wave to a stranger...paying for a meal, no matter how you do it, just do it.
 |
| "What your teacher told you in first grade still holds true: Anything worth doing is worth doing well." |
My oldest daughter Samantha had said that it was such a permanent decision on such a temporary time in your life. But to her, at that moment it was all she could bare. What if we reached out more, took notice of each other more? I wonder if perhaps she wouldn't have felt that way. And maybe that's not fair to say, but what harm could happen by being nice to someone? Even if it is someone you have never met. You may never know how you helped them with just the smallest of gestures, but I truly believe that you will.
Samantha came home from the candle light vigil they had for her with tears still in her eyes. She said there were stories after stories that her peers, most of whom she never knew, were sharing of how this young precious girl touched so many lives. The lives of complete strangers. This young girl came up them in school, at the store, in the restroom, would find them crying or looking sad and would simply reach out, touch them on the shoulder or ruffle the hair on their head and say, "Hang in there, it will all be OK." She touched so many lives, lives of people whom she had never met.
While her life may have been incredibly short, she lived her life well, her character was revealed in the simplest of actions. Reaching out to someone and blessing them with a kind word. I wonder how many lives she saved with just those few caring words from a complete stranger?
The last thing I said to my new found friend "The Cowboy" was, "Can I give you a hug?" He smiled and said "Of Course." It was a great hug from a great man. He reached down and looked at Tessa, she opened up her arms and gave him a hug as well. He stepped back, grabbed both of her tiny hands in his warm hands, bent down and brought them to his face and kissed them and said, "Thank you." We said our goodbyes and we both agreed that we would one day meet again both here and in heaven.
Tessa and I walked out holding hands. I looked down at her and she looked up at me and again she said, "Mommy, he was a really nice man." I smiled and said, "He really was sweetie, what a blessing to us to have met him."
What a perfect day.
I challenge you to today, to live your life like The Cowboy. Live your life to bless others. Go out today with the intent of making a complete stranger's day better.
Live, Laugh, Love...but do it well.
Dedicated to The Blessing Cowboy. I truly look forward to seeing you again. Perhaps this time I can buy your lunch. God bless.
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