A Bright Green Tablecloth

 I walked into the crowded coffee shop and my eyes were instantly drawn to a single table in the middle of the room.
Under large, floppy, sunhats sat two old ladies, no younger than 80.
But what made their table stand out was the bright green table cloth decorated with matching tea cups and a teapot and a pot of pink lilies.
Though they sat in silence, there seemed to be a mutual communication between. 

They had known each other long enough to enjoy each others company even in silence.
And the thought struck me: these two old ladies have lived long lives.
Lives that are important. Lives that may be forgotten.
How many loved ones have they witnessed pass away? Friends, parents, siblings.
And as those loved ones have passed, so have stories that people will never know.
But here were these two ladies, having a tea party in the middle of a coffee shop, seemingly oblivious to those around them.
They have stories. They have precious lives.
They were once young adults, like me, filled with wonder and not knowing what life may hold.
But now they seemed so content. Taking time to appreciate a simple tea party.
Watching these ladies made me wonder where I would be in 60 years. Will I have accomplished all my goals? Fulfilled my life's wishes?
Would I have someone I could sit in silence with?
Life passes so slowly. And so often we get so wrapped up in out own lives that we fail to see the lives of those around us.
The lives that are so precious.
Lives you and I have the ability to influence.
The truth of God's amazing gift we can share.
When I'm in my 80's, will I be able to look back and say I influenced other's lives? Or will I have fulfilled all my selfish desires and leave behind absolutely nothing for further God's Kingdom and touch other's?

As these thoughts swam around my mind, one of the ladies stood up and began placing the teaparty supplies into a large gift bag hanging on the handle of the other lady's wheelchair.
Then she folded up the green tablecloth, stuck it into the bag, and pushed the wheelchair out the door.
And just like that, they were gone.
Two lives, momentarily crossing my own, leaving behind a impact on my life they will never know about.

What will your future hold?
Why so often in life are our desires so focused around ourselves?
Shouldn't we be focused on serving others? On spreading the amazing love of God with those around us?
What story will we leave behind?
Will we sit in a coffee shop and have nothing to say for the life we have lived?
Or will we sit in that very same coffee shop and know that we lived to the fullest? Lived for Christ and not ourselves.