Submitted by Les Carter    

Those who know me well know that I have to satisfy my craving for barbeque on a regular basis.  So at least twice a week, I’ll make my way to Smokin’ Tom’s Barbeque for food fit for a bubba.  As soon as I walk into the front door, my nose tells me I’ll be most satisfied with my usual hickory smoked pork sandwich.

Greeting me each time is Polo and his young assistant, Angelica.  She is quite short, under five feet tall, and I suppose she is in her early to mid twenties.  Because she speaks only broken English and I have forgotten the majority of my old Spanish courses, we cannot exchange many words, yet she always recognizes me and tries to offer simple conversation along with her warm smile and friendly service.

During the past Christmas season, as I approached the counter to order my food, Angelica looked at me, then bolted into a back room.  Thinking little about it, I told Polo that I’d have my usual, then as I proceeded to pay the cashier, Angelica reappeared and handed me a blue envelope with no name on the front and said, “For you.”  As she left, the cashier told me that she had been waiting for me to come in so she could give me this card, but she was embarrassed because she did not know my name.  Nonetheless, she wanted me to have it.  Then the cashier emphasized, “She really couldn’t wait for you to come in.”

When I opened the card, I was deeply touched by its message.  In very neat penmanship, she wrote:  “May you experience the blessings of God this Christmas and throughout the New Year.  Christ loves you.  Thank you for to be my friend.”  She also included a biblical inscription from I John 4: 19. “We love Him because He first loved us.”

I grinned from ear to ear as I read this and I took it home that evening to show my family.  I have since made sure that Angelica knows my name and I told her that this simple gesture made my day.  What a thrill it is to realize that she would take the time to extend a message of God’s love to that guy who just has to have that pork sandwich each time she sees him.  Her kindness prompted me to be all the more focused on giving the same to the rest of the people I encountered that day.

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