The dogwood has always been a favorite of mine.  I love its pure white, and the elegance of its blossom.  At a time when all the colors of spring are out, it looks even more white than it would otherwise.  And of course there is also the legend of the dogwood tree being the tree that the cross of Jesus was made from.

I had an experience today with a customer that was equally simple and beautiful.  Early this morning an older man came into the store, and before I could greet him, he took a note out of his shirt pocket and handed it to me.  Now, in my previous employment (banking), that would never be a good sign!  But at Chick Fil A, I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.  I read the note, and was amazed.  It said:  Chicken biscuit.  To go.  Senior Coffee.  Thank you.

I looked up at him, and he was pointing to his ear, and shaking his head, and smiling.  In other words, he was deaf.  And because of that deafness, apparently he had never learned to talk. So he had a note. A small, handwritten, crumpled note that indicated he had used this before. I was so blessed by both the simplicity, and the humble attitude he had.  I would gladly have let him order everything on the menu and carried it out to his car.

God used this today to remind me that we can approach Him the same way.  We don’t have to use fancy words, or churchy expressions, or “thee” and “thou”.  We don’t have to come to Him with reasons for what we want/need, or anything else.  We can just simply ask for what we need, and remember to say thank you when we’re done.  After all, that’s what happened when Jesus met a leper (Matthew 8:1-3) and when a ruler approached him about raising his daughter from the dead (Matthew 9:18 & following).  They made their requests simple and from the heart, and Jesus had compassion on both of them.  Of course, God is not bound to honor every request we make, He has His will for each of us.  But He will ALWAYS listen, and we can ALWAYS ask…and He will NEVER judge us by words we use when we do.  To God be the Glory!