We'll call him Mark. He's ordinary on the outside. A rough beard that he hasn't shaved in a few days. A little overweight. Dirty clothes from the hard days work that he's put in today... and it's only 8:30AM. He's ordinary on the outside.
And then you get a glimpse of his life through a ten minute conversation and you realize that he's not even close to ordinary. He's a grandfather. And now, due to the loss of his own child, he's "inherited four grandchildren." The children are all under the age of seven with the oldest being autistic.
He wasn't complaining. He was just stating facts. Facts about life. Facts about hurting. Facts about change that he had no control over.
As he runs his own business and deals with the hand that he's been dealt, I think we'd all give him a free pass to have a bad day now and again. Or would we?
You see, this man's story, in all of its uniqueness is not as rare as we think. We, unfortunately, don't take the time out of our busy day to learn about the gas station attendant, the waitress or the grocery clerk. Instead we rush through our day and only notice them if they take too long bagging our groceries or pump our gas.
I'm going to challenge myself, and you too, to meet someone today. Someone ordinary on the outside. We may be amazed at the story they have to tell. And, if we're lucky, we'll meet a man just like Mark.