SUNDAY, APRIL 17, 2011
LIFE STORY BY DEVON WAGLER
I remember a little while ago when my family and I went out for dinner. We were celebrating my oldest brother’s birthday. Of course, since he was getting his meal paid for and got to pick where we went, we were at Montana’s for their endless rib deal. Oh, how I love endless rib deals.
We had a great time. The servers sang him a birthday song and he had a weird hat on his head. This is a particular humiliation which I believe most of us can sympathize with, if not understand the need for. We sat around for as long as we could as the men in the family allowed the meat to settle in our stomachs, which only allowed us to order more and more ribs. (Sorry to all the vegetarians out there, it’s just oh so good.)
The best part about endless ribs at Montana’s is that when you finally feel full, you can order another rack, eat a few bites and then get it to go. This little trick would leave you with some very tasty leftovers for the next day. I’m sure this is not what Montana’s intend and if they knew you were doing it intentionally, which I was, they probably wouldn’t even allow it. Regardless, I walked out with a styrofoam container with ribs and fries tucked under my arm.
Meredith and I got into the car and we began working our way out of the parking lot. It was at the intersection turning onto the main road where we saw someone standing on the median with a horribly bedraggled coat, long beard, and a sign held out in front of his chest. I don’t remember what was on the sign but it doesn’t take much to figure out what he might need or want. I have always tried to help out such people when I could, but it has never been as often as I wanted. Who carries cash around any more? I rarely even have change in my wallet.
As we pulled to a stop at the red light, I realized something. I rolled down my window which was signal enough for him to come on over. “I don’t have any cash on me,” I said. “But I do have some leftovers from Montana’s.”
He flashed an impressively happy smile before responding.
“Ooh, what have we got?” he asked taking the container.
“Just some ribs and fries.” I answered.
“OOOH BABY!” went his enthusiastic response.
It’s funny to think about now. After that small interaction I had absolutely no regret about losing those ribs. In fact I felt great about it. I hope he enjoyed the food, even though it would have been cold by the time he got a chance to eat them.
The whole thing really assured me of the fact that just a small thing for me can be huge to someone else. I think about the things that some people do for me which seem small to them but are so appreciated. The things we do cannot be counted as small or inconsequential. We need to remember that God is always working to increase our works and bring about the greatest result from the good we do in his name. We are working to increase God’s kingdom in this world, one small deed at a time.