It was like any other day at Saga. We were scheduled to meet at noon on a Tuesday. One of my favorite times because it's not crowded yet. Unlike Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 12:30 when the place is packed and you have to hunt for a table.
I arrived a couple of minutes early. I admit because I was really excited to spend time with this young woman. She arrived a couple of minutes late, but virtually on time. It had been almost a year since we had been able to spend time together. I was really looking forward to catching up. She came up behind me with a sweet voice and said, "Dee." It was so good to be in her presence.
You see, it had been a year, but the connection we established during that first encounter last fall was deep and meaningful. I had been impacted, and I think maybe she had been too!
Our crazy schedules had gotten in the way of this reunion since the beginning of school, but today it finally came together. Joy. That's what I felt.
We hugged. She gave me a Dine with the Mind card, and we went in to Saga. It's funny, I eat lunch almost every day with a student and very few of them get a card for me. Even the ones I feed almost every Sunday don't do that. I was touched that she thought enough to go that extra effort. She really is a precious and kind young woman.
We found our table and settled our stuff before heading back up to get lunch. Once we had navigated the lines that had started to accumulate, we met back at our table. No tray for her, just a heaping bowl of salad. My tray contained a plate of salad and a bowl of melon. Happily, there was lots of watermelon today, my favorite! I often wonder if the no tray thing is to protect the environment or limit the amount of food one gets. Perhaps a double benefit!
As we took our seats, I asked to pray and help her hand as I thanked God for arranging this long-anticipated appointment. I prayed for His blessing on her. And thanked Him for bringing her into my life.
After we had prayed, we began as we usually do. Me asking questions. My first one was about her crazy roommate while she was in another hemisphere for the semester. And my foot was already in my mouth. That girl, who is still her roommate, is a Wheaton student! I had no idea. She shared some of their story. How they ended up in the same program. How they ended up sharing a bed in a small room in a home in the heart of the city. The exorbitant prices of housing in that city and how this was the best option and ended up being a great friendship for her.
She shared a bit of her adventures. The fun. The craziness. The freedom. The visits to a great church that fed her soul. The rigor of the academic program. The substance of her classes that fit so well with her interest in International Business, classes she couldn't really experience at Wheaton.
Our interaction the prior school year during a routine appointment in my office had uncovered our kindred spirits. Our desire to have people be seen as they really are. To have people take off the masks they so often don to cover up what they don't want people to see about themselves. The guilt and shame they want to hide. This young woman and I know a lot about those feelings. And we both are encouraged that there is someone else who understands our feelings, and can understand what it means to love Jesus even when we're struggling with ourselves. She shared the judgment she experienced upon her return, and the feelings that she was just a little different after her adventure.
Today, those feelings of kindship came rushing back as our conversation went from the surface to the deep. From the logistics of how she ended up overseas, to the reality of what that experience was. How she realized the need not to say she was a Christian, but to actively pursue being one. That saying you are something means you ought to look different to the world. We shared our hearts right there in the middle of hundreds of students and our connection was instantly secured.
It was a beautiful thing. And no one watching even knew the unveiling of beauty that was happening.
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