On the County Line Cafe

My lunch today might make you envious. Fried chicken, homemade mashed potatoes, collard greens, cornbread....yummy.

I had lunch today at the County Line Cafe in Luthersville, a quaint little town south of Peachtree City. I went to lunch with a couple of older members from my church after a long morning at the Georgia Baptist Convention's annual conference (it was kind of like a big business meeting/worship service....but back to lunch). It might have been the most pleasant lunch experience I've had in awhile. Let me explain why.

The restaurant was a tiny little nook in downtown Luthersville (which is about 10 buildings big). We didn't get there until about 2:15 or so, but the sign on the door said "OPEN," so we walked in. When we walked in a nice gentleman told us that he forgot to flip the sign on the door and that technically they were closed, but he said that he would "scrounge around in the kitchen and see if he couldn't cook us up some good grub." His wife then sat us down and took our orders. My older counterpart ordered a "nice glass of 'sweet' milk." I hadn't heard of "sweet" milk before, but it turns out it was just a regular glass of milk. Go figure. He said I wasn't old enough to understand...

Well, long story short, they proceeded to fix a wonderful, home-cooked meal just for us. Yes, it was a business, and yes, they needed to make money, but they didn't do it begrudgingly. The guy didn't spit in my mashed potatoes because we made him stay open (at least I think not...). They were genuinely compassionate and cared about meeting our needs, and bent over backwards just to feed us. Not to mention the fact that we had a nice conversation with them as they cleaned up the cafe. It was great (and it was cheap -- $5!).

As I sat there enjoying the great food and the good company, I thought about how Jesus lived. He was God. He could do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted, and he didn't have to ask permission to do anything. But he didn't live life that way. He lived among the people, meeting them where they were and serving their needs as best as he could. Just like the family that served me lunch, he cared for total strangers. It didn't matter if he was tired, or busy, or frustrated. He always served those around him and ministered to them with a servant's heart.

He calls us to do the same. We are not the owners of our time. God merely lends us the years, months, days, hours, and minutes which we live. They are not truly our possessions, and we are not entitled to periods of relaxation just because we think we deserve them. While there is nothing wrong with taking a break every now and then (even Jesus rested), we shouldn't let relaxation keep us from meeting the needs of people around us...

Even if we've already turned our "open for business" sign off for the day.