I Enjoy People's Different Stories

On Saturday I walked to the Starbucks near our hotel with Emily and Natalia (they're on my staff). We got our drinks, and we were heading for the door when suddenly Natalia turned around and started asking the barista about her tattoos. I'm thinking, "Yeah, she has tattoos, so do a whole ton of other people. Why are you just randomly talking to this girl?", but once I stopped to look at the tatoos that covered her arms I was glad I did. Across her forearms she had written "I am fearfully" (left) "and wonderfully made" (right). That made me happy, and I inferred from the fact that she had Scripture tattooed on her body that she was a Christian, which also made me happy. I would have been content to stop the conversation there at tattoos and walk away pleased to have seen her lovely arms and smile, but then Natalia asked the question I never would have asked. She looked at the girls arms and said "Cool, so are you a Christian?" I was shocked at her boldness. I am not so outgoing that I would ever even think of asking a complete stranger such a personal question, which my be a little bit silly, I don't know. But anyway, Natalia's outgoing nature led to this girl (who we learned was named Savannah) inviting us to her church, where she leads worship. We should go some time soon though, she told us, because in a few weeks she's leaving to go to Australia for a year, where she will be attending Hillsong Leadership College. She's really excited about going, though nervous about leaving everyone and everything she knows.

I would never even have started a conversation with this girl. This experience has taught me that I need to be more outgoing and not afraid to strike up conversations with random people. You never know how they'll turn out. The worst they can do is walk away right? I also just enjoy the situation as a whole, that this random girl who made my coffee for me has this great story. My barista is also a worship leader, who God has called to leave her life and spend a year in Australia, where she'll learn to be a better leader so that she can use those skills to do something amazing for God's glory. We only get glimpses of people, like that cliche about the iceburgs, but everyone has their own unique and amazing life story, and I enjoy getting to hear them.