Rendezvous on an Old Plane

I had the great pleasure of going to Colorado with my husband to celebrate Christmas with my family there: my parents, my younger son and his girlfriend, my sister and her kids. We all get along great, and the visit was a lot of fun.

On our last full day in Colorado, a group of us drove to the Royal Gorge and took the train along the bottom and gondolas across the top. We finished around dinnertime, so decided to stop in Colorado Springs on the way home. Since none of us was familiar with the area, I got online to do a search for restaurants.

I found one called The Airplane Restaurant. Diners can actually eat inside a fully intact Boeing KC-97 tanker plane, built in 1953. Well, everyone in the group decided that sounded like great fun, so I called and made reservations.

The restaurant was as much a museum as a dining experience, and everyone in our party found it fascinating. The younger ones even got to sit in the cockpit and play with the switches while we waited for our food—which was delicious.

But the best part of the experience was our waitress. She was fun and friendly, made us all laugh and feel great. She teased us all, even tousled my youngest nephew’s hair a couple of times. Made us feel like longtime friends instead of just paying clientele.

At one point, she said something that revealed she was a Christian. Well, I just happened to have brought with me a copy of 21 Days of Christmas: Stories that Celebrate God’s Greatest Gift, book 2 in my Fiction Lover’s Devotional series. I’d been carrying it in my purse all week, wondering and praying about who I should give it to. I knew in my heart it was for this woman.

As we got up to leave, she gave us all hugs and told us how much she loved meeting us. I got up from the table last, and as I did, I handed her my book and said, “This is for you.” Then I pointed to my name on the cover and said, “That’s me.” She clutched it to her chest and said, “I love devotionals!” I said with a wink, “I thought you might.”

Then I asked if there was something I could pray about for her, and she whispered a heartfelt prayer request. I felt kinda bad for making her cry after we’d all been laughing so much! But I knew God had made a very special connection there.

I encouraged her to contact me if she wanted to chat. I don’t know if she will or not. But I do know that God used me to bless that woman. And I believe He will use the stories in that book to bless her too.

I might just have to keep a copy of one of my devotionals in my purse all the time!

I’d love to hear your stories of how God used you to bless a stranger in an unexpected way—especially if it entailed handing someone a book!