Coupon blessings

We walked into the restaurant and picked up trays and plates, eyes on the long salad, pasta, and soup bars in front of us. I felt a tap on my arm.

"Here's a coupon; it'll save you some money." The man's wife was busily tearing off a coupon as he spoke. (Why do those things never tear off cleanly?) She handed it to him, and he to me.

Well, this was a new experience for me. "Thank you; do you do this all the time, or is it just my lucky day?"

"Yeah, we do this all the time." He lowered his voice and leaned toward me with conspiracy in his eye; "Sometimes she pulls them out of the garbage!" (I'm thinking that means the recycling bins that are common here.)

We chat a few moments going through the bars and checkout, then separate.

On the way out, we stop off at their table to drop off a Misfitchristian business card and tell them I see a blog post coming out of this. We talk a little while about churches, schools, kids and such. They don't have any magical or evangelical agenda; they aren't waiting in ambush with A Tract or A Survey or anything. They just like sharing a little blessing when they go out; "We all need to help each other," she said. (Lest you evangelical folks like me get worried, yes, they're quite willing and able to tell people about Jesus if conversations open that door.)

Somehow I think they'll shine a lot of Jesus' light while they're going along (the literal sense of the Great Commission in Matt 28:19), prepared to give every man an answer (1 Peter 3:15-16). They make God look good, and enjoy being a blessing in the marketplace. In this case, the salad bar.

Need an icebreaker with people? Try coupon-blessing them; it's as good as a pet for meeting a new friend. It's even free!