And God Sent Alice

One of the biggest blessings my wife Cheryl and I have received in the last couple of years is our shared adoration for Nashville TN. Cheryl went there to a conference several years in a row, then convinced me to bring our daughter Kate down down to check it out. Cheryl had been singing the praises of Nashville since her first trip. But all I could imagine was cowboy hats and the Grand Ole Opry…and maybe some good barbecue. What I found was a town that I quickly came to love. The incredible array of music (of all kinds), restaurants, cool places to shop and especially coffee shops (we’ve been on two Nashville “coffee shop tours” this year) spoke to my heart in a huge way. And then there are the people – who have been awesome all around.

During the first trip Cheryl and I made to Nashville without Kate, God gave us a triple blessing through Merridee’s Breadbasket, a fabulous bakery and restaurant, which is actually in Franklin (15-20 minutes from Nashville). Amid the welcoming atmosphere, the great coffee and some of the best baked goods we’ve ever had, there was Alice. Her charisma leapt across the counter as she greeted us. Even though we had never met Alice before, she instantly made us feel like we had lived on her block for at least thirty years.

The gravitational pull Cheryl and I had felt toward the Nashville area quadrupled immediately on meeting Alice. Within three minutes tops, we knew how long she had lived in Franklin, how much she loved it, why she had moved there from Michigan and what her husband did for a living. In addition, Alice had found out where we were from, what we did, and that we were interested possibly moving to the area. She was so excited to hear it that she wrote her name and her home phone number (Remember, she had never met us before!) on the back of one of Cheryl’s cards. We also touched briefly on churches and Alice assured us that, if it was the Lord’s will, we would be moving to Nashville. Oh yea, she took our breakfast order too.

The breakfast was on par with the rest of the stellar Merridee’s experience. A half hour later we left, filled to satisfaction with great food, carrying a bag full of hand-kneaded joy, and talking about Alice. On our next visit a few months later, we enjoyed all the same things. Except for the fact that Alice was off that day…a major disappointment.

But on our recent trip, back to the Administrators of Gospel Music conference which had brought Cheryl to Nashville in the first place, all was once again right with the world. Alice was back when we went to Merrridee’s for breakfast. As we expected, she seemed to recognize us instantly and she remembered our situation without reminder, even though Cheryl had never taken her up on the offer to call and talk Nashville. This time we briefly shared that we were trying to figure out the next leg of God’s journey for both of us: Cheryl trying to discern if God still wanted her to serve the world through copyright, and me focusing for the moment on weddings and funerals. Once again, Alice was warm, welcoming, positive and encouraging. She seemed to especially tune into my work officiating weddings. She once again took our order, then we thanked her for being such a wonderful presence in our brief encounters with her and we went to wait for our food. Ten minutes later, Alice really took on the role of “jesus with Skin.”

We were sitting on the opposite side of the restaurant finishing up another great Merridee’s meal when I felt a hand on my shoulder. A second later Alice was in front of me, telling me that she thought it was totally God’s plans for me to be doing what I’m doing. Once again, she particularly focused on weddings, but this saying even more enthusiastically that God was in it, that there was a need for people like me to perform meaningful weddings and to serve couples with a Godly heart. Alice looked me in the eye, touched my shoulder and called me by name. And, she spoke the words my heart needed to hear. I’m as confident as I can be that God sent Alice to affirm me in this ministry, at the time when I really needed that affirmation.

I can’t promise that you’ll see Alice if you go to Merridee’s, nor that God will give her a word to share with you. But I can promise that God will put people in your path who touch your heart the way Alice touched Cheryl’s and mine. And since Jesus said he wanted us to experience life in all its abundance, I can also say pretty confidently that you’ll find a little bit of heaven in Merridee’s cinnamon rolls.