8:45 am was the pick-up time.

A short commute from home and I was pulling into to my friends driveway. But, after ten minutes she wasn’t walking out the door to hop into my SUV.  It’s wasn’t like her to be late. Did I somehow mix up our planned time?

I sent a quick text saying “I’m here in your driveway”. Five more minutes pass and I began to sense something wasn’t right, so I call. She answered the phone in a groggy-sleepy-voice. Oh goodness, she was sleeping and now I was feeling terrible for waking her!

Just one month ago her husband passed away. Understanding the feelings of grief, especially early-days of grief, I know what it means when you oversleep. The long hard days turn into even longer-restless-nights and finally at 4 am your body gives in. She was exhausted, both emotionally and physically.

My friend was insistent we keep our plans – so a few minutes later, after a quick teeth brushing and the ‘throw on’ of a sweater, we were on our way!

In route to the restaurant I could feel the darkness of the outside clouds filtering their way into my heart. The atmosphere was grim and the misty rain matched the weeping in my soul. I listened as my sweet friend released some of her aching heart and all the while I was connecting it to my own pain. I listened to stories of the recent days events and reasons why she wasn’t resting well.  Grief is real; it’s hard and it’s all consuming. 

We made it to our destination and found a small table near the door.  Our conversation flowed and in between bites of food … we cried. Two friends who first connected while watching our girls twirl around on the dance stage, are now connected even deeper by the waves of grief. Years ago neither of us would have expected to be sitting in this quaint-little cafe with tears of sorrow running down. Yet we were … we are.

It didn’t take long for the ‘loss-of-my-surrounding’ to take over. You know the feeling – getting so lost in your own thoughts or in a conversation that all sense of anything else around you disappears.  I could only see and hear what was before me. I also had no idea or care that my red-blotched cheeks (most likely stained with streaks of black mascara) were not the least bit attractive.

Even though I felt so disconnected from my surroundings, our server was very mindful to what was happening at this tiny table. She was very in tune with the heartache and had no trouble seeing our red-blotched faces or the napkins we used to wipe away the tears.

After we finished our meal, the server quietly placed our bill on the table. This is what we found!

In the midst of pain, beauty shined!

And in that moment, I could feel the arms of Jesus holding ‘two friends with connected weeping hearts’.  We sat speechless with streaming tears over the compassion we were just given.  God’s hand reaching down to work through a complete stranger named Anna to comfort and offer hope for the certainty of hard days to come. In a world filled such turmoil and sadness, love won and beauty shined! 

It wasn’t about the free meal (we ended up leaving the money) – it was about the tenderness and the willingness of another person to step up and out and notice. Friends, I need you to know … for any person in the midst of a storm, this very act of kindness has tremendous impact on an aching soul.  Please don’t underestimate the beautiful affect you can have on someone. It truly does make a difference.

I was also reminded once again how two worlds can co-exist. And how the dancing between them is possible. Within the trials and tribulations, the pain and suffering … beauty, joy and abundant gifts are also present. It’s challenging to look through or beyond the heartaches and yet when we do, there is always something beautiful to been seen. I never want to lose sight of this – how about you?

As we stood up to leave this small cafe I turned around and locked eyes with the sweet server, and whispered the words, “thank you”. She in return gave me a heartfelt smile …