Gloria from Panera

I met a new friend at Panera this evening - Gloria.

The one thing that I want you to get out of this post tonight is that you have the power to learn somebody's story. God will create this divine moments, but it is up to you to listen and take action.

I had a meeting at Panera this evening with a good friend of mine and after every meeting we pray together. Wes is way more bold than I am so he wanted to hold hands with me, which is fine! A majority of the time, I won't hold a dude's hand in public.

When we finished praying together, we got up and started to walk out the door. While we were heading to the door and older lady (Gloria) stopped us and told us how encouraged she was to see young men praying and not being ashamed...We introduced ourselves and thanked her for her encouragement and walked out.

As I walked to my car I felt like I needed go sit down and learn a little bit more about Gloria. I got all the way to my car, opened my door and was conflicted on what do to. Part of me wanted to go and talk to her and the other half was ready to head home since it had been such a long day.

This was a battle between the flesh and the Spirit. Gloria wasn't positioned there just out of happenstance. She was there for a reason and I made the decision that I was going to go sit down and talk with her.

When I walked back into Panera the first thing I said to her was "thank you so much for your encouragement." She told me that watching Wes and I pray together brought tears to her eyes. I asked her some questions and found out a little bit more about her. I learned that she attends Granger Community Church and is a part of the prayer team there. Gloria made it known that she is a prayer warrior. She lost her husband to cancer 8 years ago and recently the company where she worked shut down. Despite things that had happened in Gloria's life she just kept telling me over and over again how good God has been to her. She told me that God is way more good to her than she is to him and yet, He still amazes her everyday.

I walked away feeling extremely encouraged by Gloria. So much so that I had to share the story with you all in this post tonight.

I challenge you to think about all the people that you have an interaction with everyday...how well do you know those people? Honestly, probably not much. I believe the reason for that is because we are often so focused on what is best for us.

What's best for us is building relationships and loving people like God does. I pray that you are able to learn somebody's story in the near future. Who knows the story you might learn might change your perspective on your entire day.

It's not about you...