Ok. So I worked at home today, and I had absolutely no good reason for not having supper on the table when Brad came home, but I did’t. So I did what any smart woman would do. I rationalized my behavior. After all, I did have to take Cam to the orthopedic surgeon this morning and that did put a great deal of stress on my day. Oh, and Cam was headed to Buffalo Wild Wings (hear me gag) with the boys, so he had already offered up the suggestion that Brad and I could have a date night. On a Thursday. When we both have to work tomorrow. But those are just minor details.

Anywoo, all that to say that Brad walked in the door about 5:30ish, immediately grabbed a jar of peanuts, stuffed some in his mouth and said, “What are we doing for dinner? Tell me quick before I eat all these peanuts.”

Without a moment’s hesitation (and even from my location upstairs in my office), I said, “We’re going to George’s.”

Since choosing a place to eat often requires a significant amount of discussion and deliberation, and ultimately necessitates the use of the sophisticated decision making tool of “Nose goes,” Brad was so shocked with my immediate response that he just said, “Ok.” (Now some of you men reading this are about to disagree with me here, and you’re going to say that Brad just said “Ok” because he’s a smart man. Maybe. I still think it was more that I caught him off guard.)

So some minutes and a few handfuls of peanuts later, we actually head out the door. We arrive at George’s, and Brad is sweet enough to let me off at the door so I can go secure a table while he parks in the back forty. Brad has a serious parking issue, but we’ll save that story for another time, and for tonight, I’ll just give him credit for being a sweetheart and dropping me off at the door.

I bebop on into George’s and tell the hostess, “Two, please.” She promptly says, “Right this way,” and leads me to a table. As she is dropping me off, I say to her, “My husband is a tall and blonde. Oh, and you can tell him I told you, ‘Tall, blonde, and good-looking.” She laughed and said, “I know exactly who your husband is.”

Ok. I’ll admit it. I was stumped. And maybe a tad nervous since she was a super cute young thang.

I said, “How do you know my husband?” She gives me an adorable smile and says, “I know all my regulars, and Y’ALL are here all the time.”

Busted! Not Brad, but me! So I immediately say, “Please do not tell him that! It will only remind him that I don’t do enough cooking at home!”

Of course, she does tell Brad, and we all get a big laugh. After all, anyone who remotely knows me also knows I don’t cook.

And to add to my felony indictment of “Failure to Cook a Proper Family Meal,” as we’re leaving George’s, another adorable waitress comes up to us, asks about our Christmas holidays, and wants to know if Brad manned up tonight and had the chicken fried steak or did he wuss out again and have the strawberry chicken salad like he did the last time. I immediately tried to divert the conversation by telling the waitress that her new hair cut and color looked adorable. And that was truthful, not solely a diversionary tactic.

Regardless. Busted again.

And it’s usually about here that I type, “And all that got me to thinking…” … and it did.

Not just because I know I’m not going to win the WOTY award and needed some solace, and not just because I tend to be Pollyanna and always try to believe the best in everyone, including myself… but seriously because it is something I believe is very important.

How you treat people matters.

And I want to believe that there is more than one reason why the sweet girls at George’s know Brad and me. I pray it’s not only because we eat there often, but because when we do eat there we treat them like they matter. Jesus set this example for us. He treated everyone he encountered like they mattered. Kindness. Compassion. Love. Grace. The leper…the blind…the lame…the demon-possessed…the prostitute…the tax collector…the sinner…you…me… We mattered to Him. Enough that He gave His life for us.

Your smile. Your genuine interest. Your caring eyes. Your kind words. Your simple recognition of their existence. These things show others they matter. These things are difference makers in a world where avoidance, indifference and intolerance have replaced common courtesy and politeness… love and compassion.

“We love because He first loved us.” 1 John 4:19 NIV