Speak Blessing

Two times in my life has a stranger randomly picked up the bill for dinner. The first time was after our 3rd child was about 3 months old and we were living in almost complete poverty after I'd being fleeced in a business venture where my "partner" turned out to be a ponzi-esque fraud. Deidre and I had gone out to dinner even though we didn't have the money and during our dinner, another patron began to choke on his food and I came to his rescue. Later, when we went to pay, that couple had paid for our dinner.

The second happened last week in New Mexico. Our family of 7 was out to eat at a charming spot called the Sopaipilla Factory. Towards the end of our meal, an older woman stopped by our table on the way out to share how much she loved our family and to speak blessing into all of our kids. It was so touching. When we went to pay, the server told us that that woman had picked up the bill. We were both so touched and Deidre was in tears for a good 20 minutes. That woman was a hero in that moment.

NYC is a hard place to raise a family. And it's not because of the urban jungle NYC is. It's because NYC is not a city that celebrates children or large families. In our experience, children (and large families) tend to be viewed as an inconvenience and and obstacle to NYC efficiency. We even had a (Protestant) pastor tell us that we were his inspiration to get a vasectomy. Our trip to NM reminded me that there still are places where large families are welcome and celebrated. I found myself not feeling like I needed to justify our existence for the first time in a while. And that felt GREAT!!

So if you see a large family, try to speak words of blessing into them. Especially the parents. It's more needed that you know. Oh, and consider picking up the tab!! haha. We've decided that we intend to do that a couple of times a year for another family.