you just never know...

Today I met Mr. Gambino... no relation, I asked. Oddly enough though he was from New York. I was on his turf when we met so as I approached him I was extra nice... turned on the old charm. We spoke a bit at first and as I came back by him he stopped me. You see, Mr. Gambino is in his early 60's and I assumed we had very little in common. I am much more at home with good old southern folks like myself. I can easily talk about college football, the weather, tractors and the like. I assumed my "professional posture" as we began a conversation.

He asked me what I did and I proceeded to tell him about the work of The Foundry. Immediately he lit up. His face changed a bit and I wondered if he was one of those guys who was a little anti-God. But it turned out to be just the opposite. Immediately he began to share with me about his life. It had been full of ups and downs and twists and turns. He quickly told me about his life changing conversion when he was 32 and how he had followed Christ ever since. He was so unassuming and so passionate. He even told me that he knew one day he was going to be on the mission field. My mind wondered at how long he thought this was going to be. Here he is rapidly approaching retirement and he's talking about becoming a missionary. When most folks his age would be calculating the numbers to see how much he had is his nest and he's talking about reaching the world for Jesus.

I was so taken back. I had missed it on my initial assessment of who this guy was. He was a radical! We talked for the best part of 20 minutes and as we wrapped it up, he turned to me and said, "You know it is not by chance that we met today?" I thought that I should be the spiritual one and should have said that first but he beat me to the punch. In fact, I entered the conversation just trying to get on his good side. He looked important at the place I had just arrived and I wanted to make a good impression. He on the other hand was just waiting to talk about Jesus. Who knew?

So what did I take away from this encounter other than a new 62 year old friend from NYC... another moment of enlightenment that reminded me that God is working everyday in the lives of those around me and I can see it if I will only take the time to slow down. Mr. G is a great man and I am better today from having met him.