Wednesday 30 January 2013

toasted bagels

Yesterday on my daily commute across London, I was reading a book called ”beautiful outlaw” by John Eldredge. It’s a great book, all about Jesus and the sides of his personality that we tend to forget like his playfulness and humor. And of course Jesus would be funny! I mean, there are so many hilarious people on Earth, where else would their sense of humor come from? 
The author of the book shares how Jesus would remind him of his love by showing him hearts in random places that he passed in his everyday life. I loved that thought so I decided to try it for myself and told Jesus I wanted to see a heart too. So, in the Café that morning, toasting a ham and cheese bagel for one of the customers, I lifted the grill lid to find the hole in the middle of the bagel in the shape of a real cute heart. How awesome is that?! That made me smile!
I pointed out the heart to the customer but she wasn’t quite as excited as I was and probably didn’t see it as a sign from Jesus but oh well. Try it for yourself! I reckon God is waiting to make us smile and laugh.

Later that day an elderly lady I hadn’t seen before came into the café for a coffee and sandwich. She told me she had just come over from South Africa. Hearing that, one of our regulars (a woman who comes in every single day for a very hot, skinny cappuccino with as much froth on as will balance in the mug) started chatting to her and asking her about her life. After a couple of minutes the South African was close to tears as she explained how she had recently become a widow and lost her son and had now moved to London. A short time later, these two women were laughing and joking around, talking politics, travels and books as if they had been friends for ages. This regular talks to just about anyone and is often seen by others as pretty annoying  and a little bit mad but I thought it was beautiful to see how she showed interest in the other person’s life and got to hear her story.  There are all these interesting people around us with so much to share if we have the time to listen and be interested. That was my thought of the day…