"What Else Can I Get You?"

I have a list of the food options at each concourse in the Atlanta airport. I edit and add each trip. It's not because I like to be "in the know" & pretend I have some control of the world around me...that is for another post, another day. It's because I like food and I like options. There is nothing worse than realizing you should have grabbed a sandwich at Wall St. Deli on concourse A once you reach your destination at concourse D and find that Wendy's is your best option. Backtracking is a pet peeve of mine...that and pinkie rings (especially on guys), but again..another post for another time.

All of this rambling does lead to a point, unfortunately for you, there is still a ways to go before I get there.

So....I'm happy to find out there is an hour before my connecting flight and it's close to one of my favorite restaurants inside a bookstore! Score! I notice that they have changed their tables in the front from tall, black & metal to short glass tops with wooden chairs! I wanted to talk to the hostess about this brilliant decision (I've always hated the metal ones). However, I refrain because my husbands voice entered my head. I imagined him looking at me like he does when I've been talking too long.... or I've said something that doesn't settle well with the crowd and in my frantic attempt to explain and save myself, but I'm making it worse. His eyes meet mine and say "stop now...just stop talking this second." Sometimes it's not just his eyes...it's really him saying those things to me. He's becoming my "filter" even when he's not around!

I sit down at my new table, order, eat a fantastic omelet with fruit and then it happened....the purpose of this post (finally).

The waiter says to me "what else can I get you?" Now...I know some of you are rolling your eyes and saying (maybe out loud) "seriously, Lisa!?...this is what I've read all of this for!?"

Honestly though, how often do you hear that? I really thought about this. Very often we hear "can I get you anything else? or How is your meal?" but so so rarely do we actually hear "what else can I get you"...it's so proactive. It's such a doer statement. It says "I'm here, I'm ready, I'm willing, I'm doing."

It made me think. What if this was our approach to life, to other people. Is this how Jesus approached people? Isn't is such a serving statement?

So often we make open ended plans or say "lets spend time together" without anything really happening. It's a "hows your meal statement" instead of getting out our calendars and making it happen. So often we intend to help this family out or volunteer time, but it doesn't happen..we aren't living the in the "what else can I get you" world.

It just struck me so loud that day. He was basically saying "I'm going to get you something, what is it? I'm going to meet your need, what is it?" It's hard to live your life like that because it means putting others first, treating your neighbor as you would want them to treat you, canceling your plans to be with someone that needs you right then. It's a selfless life. You aren't asking that person to inconvenience you b/c you've already inconvenienced yourself, you simply want to know how to meet their need. In my case, my need was a glass of water, but I think you get what I'm trying to say.