Mr. Shuttle Man

I was just remembering a funny story from last summer in Colorado, and I thought I would share it with you.
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The Set Apart Girl Conference had ended, and all the girls were packing up and catching their rides to the airport. I watched as they all headed off, having enjoyed a great weekend but also glad to be going “home”-- which consisted of all parts of the nation and even the world.
My sister and I would not be leaving for a few hours. I thought for sure we would be the last ones left, deserted in the big, empty University Center. I headed up the elevator to the Panorama Room where we had spent the weekend and was glad to find people still there. Annie, Grace, Bex, Eric, and a few others were still around finishing clean-up. Annie and Eric both kindly asked me if I needed help with anything, but I told them that I just had a late shuttle and would be around for a while. I chatted with them for a few minutes and then headed down to wait with my sister.
We sat in the big room with huge glass windows and watched for our shuttle. All the while it thundered and hailed and flashed lightning outside. Finally our shuttle appeared, and by then it had calmed down a bit outside, for which we were thankful. We ran up with our bags and the shuttle man saw us and hopped out. He looked about the age of my grandpa, and after greeting us he kindly took our bags. We jumped in the back of the van and waited for him to have a smoke before getting back in the drivers' seat.
As we headed off he made small talk, asking a few questions like “Where are you from?” and “What brings you here to Greeley?”. I told him that we had been attending a conference and were now heading home to California.
Then, with a chuckle, he asked, “So did you meet a lot of nice-looking young men while you were here?” I turned a little red but replied, “No, we didn’t.”
He didn’t give up. Now grinning at me into the rear-view mirror with a twinkle in his eye he continued, “Well, surely you at least met a few good looking young men while you were here...?” to which I replied with another definite “No” and hid a smile. Now he was nearly blown-away, and paused as a confused expression now crossed his former joking countenance. I laughed and told him that actually we didn’t meet one single young man because we were attending a girls’ conference! He was still bewildered that we had indeed not met any “good-looking young men”, and didn’t seem to understand.
Next he proceeded to take a different approach and asked, “So what was this conference about?” Ah. I knew he would ask that. I began to tell him that we had attended what was called a Set Apart Girls’ Conference, and that the focus of it all was actually on purity. I told him that 200 girls had gathered together who all wanted to keep themselves for one man, their future husband, and not chase after guys but rather use their energy and single years toward pursuing Jesus Christ.
If he had been bewildered before, now he was positively at a loss for words, and I was able to say only a few more sentences before he grew uncomfortable and changed the subject completely.
Later I laughed as I thought about his jesting attempts, but realized that he really was just approaching from the mindset that he thought was the "norm". He thought that all young girls only had one focus- guys. He didn’t know any different I suppose. I’m sure he grew up quite differently than the 200 girls who had just spent their weekend together.
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Sometimes it's easy to forget that the people we meet when we go out in the world don't know.
They don't know the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the wondrous love of the Father, or His saving grace. How could they? "How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?" -Rom. 10:14
How careful we must then be toward them! How needful that we be in tune to the Father's thoughts about these lost souls. May the Lord give us wisdom!
"Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man." -Colossians 4:5-6

May the Lord give you wisdom and grace today as you walk as His kingdom-bearer in the midst of this lost world.