It was Abby’s first time to go trick-or-treating. She was about 17 months old and was so excited to go and “get candy!” We bundled her up with her cute little costume and she followed after her big sisters, as fast as her little fat legs would carry her.
As many Halloween nights in Washington are, it was cold and rainy. Mark and I were shivering and anxious to head home, but the girls were eager and happy and didn’t seem to even notice the damp chill.
Once bags were full and legs were tired, we headed home. The girls giggled and laughed in anticipation of pouring out their load of candy and spending the rest of the evening admiring, counting and trading it. As we opened the front door and walked in, we were greeted by our first hint of light. And what it exposed made us sad…
Abby, short little thing that she was, had dragged her Halloween bag the whole way home. Needless to say, the wet ground had its way with the bottom of that bag, that was now nearly completely gone. All of her candy had fallen out! She was left with one tiny little piece of chocolate.
We all looked at each other with shocked and sad faces, anticipating a sorrowful temper tantrum on her part. But as we watched Abby’s face, we were amazed. We handed her that single little candy and her face lit up like a Christmas tree! She wasn’t sad at all! She was so excited to have a treat that was her very own. She didn’t seem to realize that all of her hard work out there had ended up with such a little result. All she knew was that it was sweet and she was happy and more than content.
I felt like Abby this weekend. I had another book signing at a local coffee shop. I went in with eager anticipation, not knowing what to expect. Once again, I prayed that God would draw the right people to me, people that needed to know He loved them. But this time, instead of praying for one person, I prayed for two.
I won’t go into all the details of the conversations that I had with numerous people, because their stories were personal and private. But I will say this. Once again I was amazed at the people that came by my table and shared their hearts. Honest and open and real. And the ones who shared the most were not the ones who bought my book!
I only sold two books at that signing. But I gave two away, also. And my prayer for two was answered. But was it the two that bought the book, the two I gave the book to, or the two that sat and poured their hearts out to me? I’m not sure. But God showed me that day that my ministry will not look the same on any given day, but will always involve one on one connections and conversations. And the thought of that makes me smile from the inside out.
I spent four hours at that coffee shop and had only two sales. All that time and work for that tiny “piece of candy.” But oh, it was so sweet! And as a friend at church told me later, I was exuberant!
Jesus and I shared our treat together on Saturday. It was a small treat, but rich enough to be shared by two…
Delicious!!!
