Thursday, December 29, 2016

Showers of Blessings

Ellie, imitating the flamingos.
Have you ever had one of those days where you stand in awe of God?

Today Clay and I celebrate 15 years of marriage. That in itself is a blessing. We had decided to spend two nights in the city of Villahermosa, Tabasco. The first day, we swam in the pool at the hotel. Clay got to eat KFC, and in the evening we went to the cinema to see the new Star Wars movie.

The second day included a trip to the zoo where we saw animals from all over the world. One of our favorite parts of the zoo is the aviary. There are pink flamingos, toucans, roseate spoonbills, and so many other birds! One of the toucans was especially social and let us get really close for pictures. And of the flamingos had some peculiar traits which made us laugh!

Posing with the toucan!
                                                          In the evening, we had planned to eat at Maiña, a Brazilian steakhouse. We had been looking forward to this special treat for some time, and we had received a gift from a friend in the States, with a note encouraging us to do something special. (It's one of the more expensive restaurants because it's an all you can eat buffet where they bring the best meats right to your table!)

Before we headed up to salad bar to fill our plates, we joined hands and prayed, as is our custom. We thanked God for the day, and asked a blessing on our meal and on the restaurant employees. We enjoyed an amazing meal. And the service was great. What a great blessing for our 15th anniversary!

But the amazing part was still to come.

We asked our waiter for the bill, but he said it was paid in full. We were confused...maybe we didn't understand his tabasqueño Spanish accent? We asked him what he meant and he explained that the owner of the restaurant overheard us praying before our meal, and that our bill was paid.

The owner and our waiter are both believers. Our waiter hugged us and told us it was his pleasure to serve us. He thanked us.

All because we took a moment to bow and pray. We are humbled...and honored.

And we still have that gift to use for another day...so the blessing lives on!

Guaraná soda! Yum!
Guaraná soda...



Ryan, being served more meat!
A plate full of seafood!