When you have a large family, it's impossible to go anywhere unnoticed. That's hard for someone like me, who would rather just fade into the crowd at all times but, God knows how to stretch us and get us out of our comfort zones, doesn't He?
Last night, our family enjoyed a nice dinner at Chik Fil A in McKinney, thanks to some coupons we were able to use. Plus, they were having a preview taste test for their new Spicy Chik Fil A sandwich, which will be on the regular menu soon. It's good (as everything else there), but too spicy for me!
Anyway, as I looked around at the other customers, we got the usual stares and smiles. Through their stares and smiles, they are usually saying things like, "Are all those children their's?, Did that lady have all those children...from her own body (LOL, I love that one!)?, How do they handle things with all those children?, Children are a gift from the Lord, or I'm glad we stopped at 2!" I quit trying to figure out what people are thinking, because I'm usually wrong. I often will intrepret people's stares (non-smiles) as negative thinking about our family. Then, those people always end up being the ones who come up to us when they leave and say things like, "I really enjoyed seeing your family," or "Your children are so polite and well-behaved," and things like that.
Toward the end of our meal, our son Noah, went to buy an "Ice Dream" cone. The gentleman behind the counter said "A man bought milk shakes for your family." Well, the next thing we know, two employees came up to us serving 7 milkshakes and two large smiles! We asked who paid for them so we could tell them "thank you," but they had already left. They did give us a description of him though. We felt so blessed and grateful! :o) Don and I said a prayer for them right then and there, and thanked the Lord for him and asked the Lord to return the blessing. We also talked to the children about what a blessing it was (and an affirmation) to receive that gift.
I believe it was a man (and his family) who was giving us one of those stares, but he never said a word.
Awwww....what a wonderful way to end the evening. And such a testimony and memory for the children. I still remember a time where a stranger bought our family two pies for dessert at a restaurant.
ReplyDeleteLove that testimony!!!! Thanks for sharing it, such an encouragement!
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