Psalm 31:15 My times are in His hands
One of my favorite things to do on a trip to College Station is to go to McAllister’s Deli. I can’t explain it all in words but their food is a total body experience. I feel it in my tongue, stomach, and even in my esophagus. Particulary good is the sweet tea and the chocolate chip cookie at the end. You have to understand the context for this visit to this magical world of turkey goodness. I am at my in laws house ( whom I love) out in the country and far removed from internet, cell service and sweet tea. Therefore, once we reach said restaurant, it’s time to party. However, today was different. When I pulled in the parking lot I noticed a large yellow dog ( school bus in laymen’s terms) that said Spring High school. I had a hunch there were many student athletes descending on the cash registers and trying to get at the sweet, sweet tea. I hung my head in dismay and grumbled something to Karen about how this was going to be frustrating. I debated whether to stay or go to Fuddruckers. But there was a great parking spot by the front door so I informed Karen to stay in the car and I would go investigate and give her the signal from inside. I decided to stay and then nervously fidgeted behind several lines, giving non verbal clues that I was about 10 minutes away from exploding… I mean getting mildly irritated. There was one man ( an older man) who was in a motorized cart and so I let him go before me ( seeing as how I am a pastor and all). I waited in line for a while and the cashier said she had to close her register down before I got to the front. I tried to get her to look my way so I could give her a disappointed stare…one that could communicate the pain. So I go back to Karen who is sitting in a chair and say with desperation : “God is punishing me.” My wife quickly responds: “ No, He is protecting you from something…. maybe there is some traffic accident He wants to protect you from…” I sulk off admitting she is probably right but the lines are still there and I am no closer to that sweet sweet tea.
Fast forward……
( foot note: I overheard the cashier say that they were out of potatoes because all the athletes from Spring had ordered them)
So, I get to the counter and I asked the cashier: “ Do you have any turkey left ?” She assures me they have plenty. So I order the club, potato salad ( I guess they had plenty of that too) and a chocolate chip cookie and the tea…. ( did I mention that it is world famous sweet tea ?)
How does something become world famous ?
I set my chrono because I am expecting this to take about 45 minutes and to my delight we get the food in about 3 minutes 51 seconds. I eat the food and we move on to our next event… a trip to half price book store on the other side of town.
We pull up to the light and notice Colonel Sanders is lying in the grass. His face had blown off the sign and He was lying across the street. We realize strange things are afoot. When we reach half price parking lot we see that the large McDonalds sign has been ripped apart and several car windows are busted out. An ambulance is over in front of the China buffet. A large tree ( and I mean large) has been completely pulled up by its roots and is now lying in the parking lot. PAUSE>>>>>>
Large trees take hundreds of years to grow and this large tree was completely uprooted and there was about a 10 foot hole where it used to be.
STUNNED ….
Storefront windows were busted out and the place was kind of weird. People were out sweeping up glass from the parking lot.
A tornado hit the parking lot in front of the place we were on our way to…
* I’m not making this up… this really happened. I have the pictures.
TRANSLATION: The wait at the deli was God’s way of protecting me from the tornado that would have busted our windows out at best and destroyed us at worst.
Even now, when I take it all in, I’m still stunned. We pulled into that parking lot about 5 minutes after this tornado ripped apart the area. We would have been in that store if McAllister’s had not been busy.
So, this is where you come in. Do you really believe that God is at work in your delays and detours ?
Are you frustrated because you can’t get at what you want ? Is it possible that there is a reason for your waiting ?
I think so…
One of my favorite things to do on a trip to College Station is to go to McAllister’s Deli. I can’t explain it all in words but their food is a total body experience. I feel it in my tongue, stomach, and even in my esophagus. Particulary good is the sweet tea and the chocolate chip cookie at the end. You have to understand the context for this visit to this magical world of turkey goodness. I am at my in laws house ( whom I love) out in the country and far removed from internet, cell service and sweet tea. Therefore, once we reach said restaurant, it’s time to party. However, today was different. When I pulled in the parking lot I noticed a large yellow dog ( school bus in laymen’s terms) that said Spring High school. I had a hunch there were many student athletes descending on the cash registers and trying to get at the sweet, sweet tea. I hung my head in dismay and grumbled something to Karen about how this was going to be frustrating. I debated whether to stay or go to Fuddruckers. But there was a great parking spot by the front door so I informed Karen to stay in the car and I would go investigate and give her the signal from inside. I decided to stay and then nervously fidgeted behind several lines, giving non verbal clues that I was about 10 minutes away from exploding… I mean getting mildly irritated. There was one man ( an older man) who was in a motorized cart and so I let him go before me ( seeing as how I am a pastor and all). I waited in line for a while and the cashier said she had to close her register down before I got to the front. I tried to get her to look my way so I could give her a disappointed stare…one that could communicate the pain. So I go back to Karen who is sitting in a chair and say with desperation : “God is punishing me.” My wife quickly responds: “ No, He is protecting you from something…. maybe there is some traffic accident He wants to protect you from…” I sulk off admitting she is probably right but the lines are still there and I am no closer to that sweet sweet tea.
Fast forward……
( foot note: I overheard the cashier say that they were out of potatoes because all the athletes from Spring had ordered them)
So, I get to the counter and I asked the cashier: “ Do you have any turkey left ?” She assures me they have plenty. So I order the club, potato salad ( I guess they had plenty of that too) and a chocolate chip cookie and the tea…. ( did I mention that it is world famous sweet tea ?)
How does something become world famous ?
I set my chrono because I am expecting this to take about 45 minutes and to my delight we get the food in about 3 minutes 51 seconds. I eat the food and we move on to our next event… a trip to half price book store on the other side of town.
We pull up to the light and notice Colonel Sanders is lying in the grass. His face had blown off the sign and He was lying across the street. We realize strange things are afoot. When we reach half price parking lot we see that the large McDonalds sign has been ripped apart and several car windows are busted out. An ambulance is over in front of the China buffet. A large tree ( and I mean large) has been completely pulled up by its roots and is now lying in the parking lot. PAUSE>>>>>>
Large trees take hundreds of years to grow and this large tree was completely uprooted and there was about a 10 foot hole where it used to be.
STUNNED ….
Storefront windows were busted out and the place was kind of weird. People were out sweeping up glass from the parking lot.
A tornado hit the parking lot in front of the place we were on our way to…
* I’m not making this up… this really happened. I have the pictures.
TRANSLATION: The wait at the deli was God’s way of protecting me from the tornado that would have busted our windows out at best and destroyed us at worst.
Even now, when I take it all in, I’m still stunned. We pulled into that parking lot about 5 minutes after this tornado ripped apart the area. We would have been in that store if McAllister’s had not been busy.
So, this is where you come in. Do you really believe that God is at work in your delays and detours ?
Are you frustrated because you can’t get at what you want ? Is it possible that there is a reason for your waiting ?
I think so…
