friends in strange places

As I walked through the Dallas airport, me and my guitar I smiled as I head banjo music. Gotta love Texas.  As it got louder I was delighted to find a classic old man, in overalls, flag tie and hat smiling at everyone who walked past. 

He caught my eye and with that sparkle that people have only when they have really lived. 

“Hey there missy, that there your g-tar? Come on over here and show me what you can do.”

I have been asked the play a million times and have never obliged  but for some reason today I considered it.  What the heck, why not? I walked over to him. I had time to kill and this man looked like he had some stories.

After a  hacked up blue grass version of Amazing grace and Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus he looked at  me and said. 

“you got time to see something?” 

Bingo. 

He bought out a book, tattered and what looked like something from a movie...a few times I looked around for a camera to see if this guy was for real. I open the worn pages to find black and white images of him as a little boy, with his “daddy”. I smirked at the wobbly written letters of a 6 year old. “Dear daddy, how are the boys? I miss you, and need your help with my homework.Come home soon.” 

It was a story of a boy and his father in WW2.

“I always was looking forward to the day when my dad could help me with my homework. I was always counting the days until my daddy could come home. But, missy, he never did. He died when I was 7 years old.”

I asked him why he played, “I come here every Thursday to say thank you to the troops, I surely do thank them. People here do not say thank you enough to those fellows. The good Lord said come here and make people smile. So here I am.” 

That he did.  I sat there next to him and watched. People would come over. He asked how the day had been, “where ya’ll from now? Oh my, that must be a nice place.” Some lingered, some kept walking. All smiled. He went on and on playing that twangie song and singing with his hat and and smiling and blessing and winking  and stomping and loving being on that stool.

This man in the Dallas airport is effective. The staff loved him. The troops saw his grateful heart. The tired mom was encouraged as he cared and asked about the baby. The dear old lady was thought of as he brought her napkins for a spill and played her request from years past. 

I saw some of Jesus today. And I loved it.