Long (Not so) Lost Family

My wife and I went to her new coffeehouse of choice Saturday afternoon. There was a couple sitting at a table, about our age. I had already taken a seat, but when Robin passed them, they asked what her particular coffee drink was. They struck up a conversation that started about beans and ended with “where you from?” She told them it was nice to meet them and sat down with me.

When the couple got up to leave, they came over to our table. They were visiting their adult children here and lived in Pennsylvania. As they talked, she said “the Lord” in one of her sentences. Then Robin made a similar reference.

What transpired in the next 20 minutes was one of those Kingdom things I am always amazed at and never tire of. It’s not of this earth, for sure.

She began to share with Robin, so he turns to me and begins to tell about the last few years of his life, career, and ministry. Several times, this “man’s man,” also obviously of means, is tearing up as he talks—right there in the coffee shop.

Within minutes, he has shared deep, intimate moments of God speaking to Him he said he had really shared. There was an uncanny amount of similarities in our lives and what the Lord had done and shown us. So I shared some with Him, to let Him know I “got it” and why I thought he shared what he did with me. It was encouraging to us both. It got deep—real quick.

Within a few minutes, eyes were wiped, conversations turned back to the present, they hugged us—yeah, hugged us—and they went on with their lives. We may never see those folks again this side of Heaven, but on this day, God decided we needed to run into each other … to talk about Him … to encourage each other … to once, again, be amazed at a holy moment on this ungodly planet.

We may never even remember each other’s names, but we always know the One Name that counts.

Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our high priest. —Hebrews 3:1