Diner Prayer

We have put a third of the year behind us. My, how time flies.

Speaking of flying - ooh, wasn't that smooth? - my wife wings her way south to Florida today, on her semiannual trip to help her mother make the return commute from their retirement home back to Michigan for the summer.

Here in the States it's also the National Day of Prayer.

So, let's see, pray that my wife has a good trip, among other things.

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In his book, Living Life on Purpose, Greg Anderson shares this story:

His wife had recently left him and he was completely depressed. He had lost faith - in himself, in other people, in God. He found no joy in living.

One rainy morning he went to a small neighborhood restaurant for breakfast. Although several people were in the diner, no one was talking to each other or even looking at each other. Our miserable friend hunched over the counter, stirring his coffee idly.

In walks a young mother with her small daughter and they take a booth by the window. Just as they're served their food, the little girl breaks the sad silence by nearly shouting, "Momma, why don't we say our prayers here?"

The waitress who had just served them turns around and says, "Why sure, honey, we pray here. Will you say the prayer for us?" Then she turned and looked at everyone else in the room and says, "Y'all bow your heads."

Surprisingly, one by one the heads went down. The little girl bowed her head, too, and clasped her hands, and said, "God is great, God is good, and we thank Him for our food. Amen."

That little prayer changed the entire atmosphere. People began to talk and smile at one another. The waitress said aloud, "We should do that every morning."

"All of a sudden," said the man who shared this story, "my whole frame of mind started to improve. From that little girl's example, I started to thank God for everything I did have and stop dwelling on all that I didn't have. I started to choose happiness."

[from Pulpit Pieces Weekly, as seen in Wit and Wisdom]

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WISDOM for YOUR WEEK: "He will respond to the prayer of the destitute; he will not despise their plea." (Psalm 102:17)

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