Yesterday Mel and I took "the long way" to get to Indio, CA. I had dropped my camera one too many times (actually this time it flew off the dashboard of the car when Mel did a quick turn in a parking lot that I wasn't expecting). The last two series of photos I took were only partially in focus. I was very disappointed with them. The color really looked 'off', too. So, Mel said I could buy a new one.
We don't have enough money in our bank account to buy a new one right now, so he decided that this was important enough to me and eventually to our ministry that we could put it on a credit card. (It will be paid off next month.) The closest "big box store" for that card is located in Indio, CA, which is 50-60 miles from here. We took a look at the map and decided to take the long way to get there: drive east and then south and then back west on I-10 to Indio. We'd never driven that way before and we always like to see new things.
Wow! Beautiful area. Stark. Mostly empty. Fearsome in summer, a little scary in winter. Mojave desert most of the way, then down on to the Colorado desert. (In this photo you can see a lake, created by the recent heavy rains and flooding. We weren't sure if it was real or a mirage at first.) 
We drove from Yucca Valley east, along the north side of Joshua Tree National Park and through Twenty-nine Palms, south of the huge Marine base there, (notice all the sand on the road - this is a result of the flooding which happened during the storms last week - there are even piles of sand several feet high in some places, scooped off the road like snow in a blizzard!)
toward the Arizona border. 
(This last photo shows how some of the photos are in focus and some are not - I never knew which it was going to be!) I think only 3 vehicles passed us the whole 55 miles east.By the time we got to Indio it was time to eat. We found the big box store we wanted in a large shopping center. We drove here and there through the center, looking for some cafe or restaurant that looked good. Nothing sounded good at all. :-( Finally, Mel turned the wrong way and we ended up driving away from there for about 2 miles before we could get turned around again and go back. There, on the right, in another section of the shopping center, we saw a McDonald's. We decided that rather than drive all over again trying to think what we were hungry for, we'd just go to McDonald's.
We drove in and Mel parked far away from the door. I was a little unhappy with that. Why couldn't he park closer?? Grrr. But I mostly held my peace.
We walked behind a couple cars, around a corner, crossed the drive-thru lane. Just as we walked up to the entrance door, we met a man with 4 little children. Mel and I paused - they paused. I motioned them forward. The man said thank you. One of his two little girls was chattering away, all excited about being at McDonald's. The other 3 were just quietly anticipating. Mel commented on her chatter, the father commented back in a friendly way.
We walked in behind the family. They stepped to one side of the counter and waited. We stepped to the other side of the counter and looked at the menu board. I still had no idea what I wanted to eat. Finally Mel said, "Shall we just do the usual?" And I agreed. One Big Mac, one Big & Tasty, one fries to share, one drink (I always get a water). I stood near the counter while Mel went and got his drink, straws and napkins.
The man ordered for his family. The worker behind the counter put all of our food on a tray right in front of the man and his kids (it was a glass shelf about chin high on me - first time I've seen that, but this is California!). I reached over and pulled the tray toward me and he kind of apologized, and so did I - took the tray and Mel and I went and found a place to eat.
After eating we went to the restrooms to wash up before leaving. The man and kids were sitting nearby. There was only one room for the women, which meant that those waiting had to stand in line in front of the door. What else do you do when you are #2 in line for the restroom? Look around you, watch other people, try not to stare. I couldn't help but watch the man with his kids. So quiet and polite. Not at all like my rowdy bunch would have been! Not at all like the little one at the next table who was making a lot of noise. I thought they looked like a happy family, and wondered if Papa was giving Mama some free time, and wondered if there were more tiny ones at home, because these 4 were 'stair-stepped' in age.
Finally we left and made it back to our room, up on the Mojave desert.
A couple hours later Mel made a phone call to the pastor of a church plant in Indio. Some one in Yorba Linda had recommended that we contact this guy. Mel hates "cold calling" and had put it off until later. That was good.
This is how the conversation went:
"Hi, this is Mel P. calling." details, etc etc
The pastor responded: "Were you by any chance in Indio today?"
"Yes, we were in Indio today." Mel answered in a questioning voice.
Wow! I didn't even have to hear his side of the conversation - I looked at Mel and mouthed "The guy with the 4 kids!!?"
Mel nodded yes.
The pastor told Mel that the pastor of the church in Yorba Linda had called him and said we are in the area, and told him a little about us. We also met this man about 4 years ago - but we've changed a bit, and we've met so many hundreds of people in that time. But the whole time we were at McDonald's I kept wondering about him and his kids, thinking to myself that it would be so weird if HE was the pastor we needed to contact, wondering if somehow this man would be important in our life at some time. There was a connection there somehow, unexplained at the time. Now I realize it was the Holy Spirit working in each of us. He had wondered about us, too. But we were all too "shy" to approach each other.
I mean, really - what are the chances??!! There are over 2 million people in Riverside County, almost 90,000 in Indio alone, and there are several more cities in the area (Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Desert Hot Springs and more). What are the chances that we all would meet in the parking lot of a little McDonald's at the exact same time? If we had not taken the long route...if we had decided we wanted Panera instead...if Mel had not taken that wrong turn or had parked closer to the door... If any one of those things had been different, we would probably never have even seen this man with his 4 children.
Amazing!
I was watching him with his kids, he was watching us. I wondered - what kind of an impression did we make on him? I know he made a big impression on me - I would have remembered him and the kids, even without finding out who he is.
Isn't that just amazing??
