anniversary blessings

As promised, I am back this evening to tell you about an unusual experience we had during our anniversary dinner...

So...we walked into the restaurant and told the hostesses our name. They looked in the computer and both lit up and said, "Oh, happy anniversary to you both!!" Chris and I were amused and pleased with their customer service. He had made our reservations online, and had noted that it was our anniversary. So, they were paying attention!

The cute girl took us to our table and we began looking over the sushi offerings...our waitress came over and said, "I hear it's your anniversary! Happy anniversary!" Well!! She said, "The couple at the next table is also celebrating their anniversary!" We thought that was kind of cool :)

We proceeded to eat lots of yummy raw fish and drink some delicious drinks...we thoroughly enjoyed our meal and our conversation. A little while later, the waitress brought out a dessert plate for the couple next to us...a piece of cake, with Happy Anniversary written on the plate in syrup. They were oohing and ahhhing, and we joined in. We ate a little more, and then Chris got this weird look in his eye.

He whispered to me, "I know you are going to think I am completely insane...and I probably am...but I have this strong feeling that we should buy their anniversary dinner."

I looked at him like he was insane. And asked him to explain. All the while thinking about how we just got a $200 speeding ticket on the way there, how we have some unexpected bills about to start rolling in, how they had an expensive meal of two entrees and appetizer and a bottle of wine and two desserts, etc etc. But then I stopped and actually listened to what he was telling me. He said that he had never felt anything so clearly. One minute he was sitting there, the next minute he knew for certain that he had to pay for their dinner. He felt like he was being led by God to be obedient to His plan, and regardless of what our money situation was and regardless of if the couple needed us to or wanted us to, he felt 100% sure that it needed to be done. Who am I to stand in the way of my husband following a direction from God? There is just something special about a man being obedient to God!

So, we talked to our waitress and told her our wishes. She had already run their credit card, but she was able to get her manager to cancel it. She brought it back to their table, and thanked them for coming in and explained that their meal had been taken care of and she looked our way. There was a brief awkward moment...and then the two of them were gushing, "Oh no, that isn't necessary, oh no, we can't let you do that, no no no..."

We just smiled and said it was done, and that we really wanted to do it for them. Told them to pay it forward. And wished them a happy anniversary. So, they accepted it and we all chit chatted for a few minutes. The typical things like where are you from? We told them we were from Abilene and they told us they had just moved to Fredericksburg three weeks prior. Talked about how great Fredericksburg is, and where we were staying. We also talked about how long we had each been married (them, 11 years; us, 6 years) and we asked them what their secret was to a happy marriage -- their answer was that you had to actually like who your partner is as a person; otherwise, you won't want to spend time together, and spending time together is key.

Off they went, and we were so thrilled with our good deed! Following God's instructions was the way to go! We analyzed it a bit -- did we think they were having financial problems? Did we think they had lost their faith and needed to see God through a stranger? Man we should have gotten their names! Finally, we had to just chalk it up to the fact that Chris was obedient to what he felt led to do, and whatever impact that had on the couple was whatever God wanted it to be. We would never really know.

So off we went to Hondo's for some dancing!

Later that evening, around 11:30, we arrived back at the hotel and made our way to the room. When we opened the door, we stepped on an envelope as we crossed the threshold. Hmmm...

When we opened the envelope, there was a note and a $20 bill. Hmm. The note said:

Chris and Kelly --
Thank you so much for a lovely gesture -- pay it forward :) And let us know next time you are in town (phone number)...

Susan and Randy (last name)

P.S. Happy Anniversary! We got your room for tonight plus some snacks!

What!!

We were dumbfounded!! And after putting it all together, figured out that they had taken our first names from our conversation, our hotel, and where we were from, and then headed to the hotel. And proceeded to pay for our hotel room for the night!!! Plus $20 for snacks! The fact that they went to this trouble to do something sweet for us too was incredible! We felt truly blessed in our hearts.

Not only that, but they had shared their names with us and so we were able to look them up on Facebook...and are now friends there and have learned more about them since then. We have exchanged messages. And next time we visit Fredericksburg, I think we will certainly call them to meet for dinner or something.

My first thought was, oh no! They were supposed to pay it forward! Not pay it backward! And she told me that they would certainly still pay it forward, but they couldn't resist blessing us the way we had blessed them. And truly, this shows God's heart to us. Especially me. This is an example of him saying, trust me. Do as I command, and I will bless you doubly. Put yourself aside and bless someone, and I will bless you. Our God is truly an awesome God.

This experience has taught me to tune my ear to hear God's will...it is there, but most of us just never really pay any attention to it. We don't know how to hear it. I am so lucky to have a husband who was listening.