DINNER WITH STRANGERS

Last Friday night was the 16th anniversary of the day Melissa and I said "I do". It is safe to say that we had no idea what we were getting into that clear summer day, but it has been a fantastic journey ... and one that gets better with each passing year.

About every other July 15th, we manage to do something special to celebrate. For example, last year we were on Lake Okoboji with all the kids and some dear friends and the day was perfect, ending in a romantic sunset viewed from the back of a boat.

It was GOOD.

But this year? We were leaving for a week in Iowa the very next morning and there were things to do, so Melissa and I told ourselves that our kid-less time in the Northwest last month would have to suffice as an early anniversary celebration. 

During the day, I did manage to find some flowers (on clearance at Walmart!), bought some cheesecake slices, dipped some strawberries in chocolate and turned the above photo into a small placard. (Melissa, meanwhile, had the kids at a hot, crowded zoo with Grandma Trudy - so I got the better end of the deal.)

The cheesecake and strawberries were intended to give us something sweet for a late evening dessert, something to look forward to while sitting through a dinner engagement I had scheduled a few weeks earlier with a couple of women I knew only via messages they had left on the Cowman Facebook page. 

Romantic, right?  As our dinner "date" approached, my uneasiness grew. I started fearing I had committed a monumental husbandly faux pas. Dinner with strangers on our anniversary? Throughout the day, in my mind, the probability of great social awkwardness steadily climbed toward 99%. Even on our drive to the restaurant, Melissa was grilling me: "Tell me again - who are these people we're meeting?"

Here's what I understood about who we were meeting: Caryn and her friend Jane lived in Michigan but their hearts had been captured by Haiti on a couple of short term trips, accompanied also by Caryn's brother, Craig, who lived in Kentucky. Craig's church had struck up a relationship with a school in Cap Haitian but, over the span of several visits, they had all gotten a bit disillusioned with the quality of the education and other important aspects of the arrangement. They were on the internet exploring options for rerouting their time and resources when they came across some information on Cowman. 

Which is what led to us all gathering at an upscale hamburger place in Columbus. Craig and his wife Ruth had driven up from Kentucky and Jane and Caryn had driven down from Michigan just to talk about ministry in Haiti with US for an evening!

All concern over awkwardness evaporated completely within the first 60 seconds of meeting these four strangers just inside the restaurant doors. They were full of insights and questions and so incredibly easy to talk to. It was quite apparent that they greatly desired to serve the people of Haiti while being good stewards of the gifts God had given them to share.

And that made the evening one of incredible encouragement for Melissa and me. Cowman seemed to meet every expectation they had for a worthwhile school to throw their support behind in ministry:

- Christ centered

- Pre-K through high school

- Responsible use of financial resources

- Ministry in support of parents

- Trained and supported staff

- A vision for the betterment of not only individual students, but of Haiti as a whole

These kind folks treated us to dinner and encouraged us beyond anything we could have expected when we walked in those doors. Melissa and I left the restaurant feeling refreshed and invigorated. It couldn't have been a better anniversary celebration.

Only the Lord can knit six hearts together so quickly. We look forward to having some or all of these four visit us in Cap Haitien in the very near future! And we can only imagine what the Lord has in mind for this new friendship...