Just a Face in the Crowd

This morning I went to Norfolk for my Friday morning coffee in Ghent. It was the first time in a little over a month. If you are not familiar with my visits to Norfolk. It is just to establish a base there for when we launch the Norfolk campus in 2010. So anyway....it has been a while. I have a tab going which to my discovery only had .48 cents left on it. So I paid my $1.95 for my medium coffee, and proceeded to find a territory that I could claim as my own. I would stake my position and set up shop. Maybe listen to a sermon, observe the locals, or just surf the Internet. Well as I was on my way to grab a seat I recognized a familiar face. Now this face wasn't familiar because I have been going to Elliot's Fairgrounds Coffee Shop in Ghent, but rather it was familiar because I had spent time with this person while stationed on the mighty USS Cape St. George the Navy's finest Cruiser. Just to be sure it was him, I asked his name and sure enough it was SK2 James Gould. Now James wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, even though owning a MA in business. Also he was kind of an idiot savant when it came to life. He was the butt of many jokes, and sad to say on the receiving end of some of mine. He was a likable guy though. Well past his prime, but serving the country nonetheless. So long story short, to stumble upon him after 5 years of not seeing him had to be a God thing.

We got to talking about life and where each of us is at. He is in the process of getting out of the Navy and moving back home to be near his mother who has been diagnosed with cancer. Also he suffers with an anxiety disorder, and if you met him you would understand why. I don't say that to disrespect him.

While talking I asked him how he remembered me. This of course was after I revealed to him of me being a Pastor. What I would hear next would sadden me but not surprise me. He went onto say that I was not one that he saw as a troublemaker or knew of as getting into trouble. He saw me as a guy who would go to the bars, have a drink, and then go on with my business while in port. He saw me as just a "face in the crowd". Now this to me was all an accurate statement. The thing that saddened me was that I was known more for what I wouldn't do than what I was about. While in the Navy I claimed to be a Christian, but I didn't live it. I told people that I was going to be a Pastor, but I didn't witness to them. I did everything to be just a "face in the crowd". This challenged me!!! But I know that reconnecting with him was no coincidence.

I have a picture of him and I in a bar in Turkey. I would often look at that picture and wish that I had been nicer to him, or that I would have stood up for him. But how could I have? I was just a face in the crowd. I had at one point wrote off that time of my life. But the kind of God we serve didn't. He kept it tucked hidden away until the moment that I would best be ready for it. Until today.

James and I talked for 2-3 hours about life. About everything from religion, politics, the economy. About each other. I was able to be that person that was able to share my love for the Lord. I was able to look at him and be accepting of him despite his eccentricities. I was able to shower him with love and compassion. I now have that part of my life back. I am more complete because of that encounter today. That is the kind of God we serve. He takes those "face in the crowd" parts of our life and transforms them into God moments. Only He can do that. Only He can restore us to where we want to be.

So if you are living in those "face in the crowd" seasons of life, have faith and know that God can bring everything full circle when He is ready. Just give it to Him and He will do it. Sometimes He needs to do more in us before He can do more through us.