The Favor

For the next few weeks, the gentleman came each weekend after church for a few hours study.  Occasionally there were some texts or a rare phone call with questions so I knew he was studying on his own and not just counting on me.  I was encouraged that he was diligently seeking truth on his own time.  Once in awhile during our study time, he would get off track with a little chit chat but I would gently steer him back to the subject at hand. Elijah was always close by.  I also let my other sons know what was happening. I did tell one of my daughters that there was a gentleman interested in me but not to worry, it wasn’t going to go anywhere and I explained why.

I set aside Sabbath afternoons for study but other than that our lives went on as usual and the weeks passed.

Then one afternoon, the gentleman asked me for a favor.  He had heard me talking to one of my daughters about how many organic foods Costco carried.  He had never been there.  He asked if it would be permissible for me to take him there and allow him to see the place and pick up a few things.

I wasn’t sure what to say. I did not want to encourage anything personal but I also wanted to help him.  I ran it by my son Jeremy and he asked me if I would do this favor for Russel, or Scott, or Jeff – other male friends. Of course I would have!  Therefore, Jeremy felt like I should do the same for this friend.

We picked a day. I let him know that Jeremy would be aware of when I left, where I went and when I got home. To me, it would be a straight shot there and then turn around and head home…I wanted that made very clear. He understood and agreed.  When we got in his Jeep, he asked to pray for our safety before we left – which he did.  Did you know you can learn a lot about someone by listening to them pray?

Costco is about an hour way.  For the first time, he shared a bit about his life on the way there. It was probably the first conversation we had that did not revolve completely around the Word. I discovered that he had a wonderful sense of humor. I found myself laughing quite a bit.

We got to Costco – and toured the store picking up the things he needed along the way. At one point, he had me laughing and asked me..”what am I going to do with you?” That struck me as a very odd question.

And then he answered his own question….and totally blew me away….