Today:

A tenth grade hispanic guy named Francisco rode in on his bike. A stereo and speaker was duct taped to his handle bars. He turned off the music and came in.

It was a fairly slow day and we got to talking. We talked about his car and how much he loves the movie The Fast and the Furious, and how he aspires to street race his car. We talked some about that, and some about car stereo systems. I tried to sound like I knew what I was talking but for most of the time, I was content with listening about his $2,000 dollar system. He explained that his new Supra was in the shop getting fixed.

For some reason, Francisco took a liking to me. He didn't come in to eat, but just stood there on the other side of the counter waiting to talk to me. He didn't come in to eat, or even to see anyone in particular. I didn't understand why he was there, but I soon found out. After about half an hour of talking, I went on break and asked him to join me. He sat across from me as I started eating my cheap McDonalds food.

Talk took a turn and we started talking about religion. He said he was brought up Catholic. After some questions he said that he believed in Heaven and Hell, and that unless he started doing some good things, he wouldn't make it to heaven. I let him know of my assurance of salvation and let him know how he could have that same assurance. After I prayed the prayer of salvation and asked if this expressed the desire of his heart, he nodded in a way as if to say. "Obviously." We bowed our heads and Francisco asked the Lord to come into his life. It was exciting to see the change in his face. The noose that the Catholic faith had slowly tightened around his neck was removed.

I went back to work feeling refreshed and joyful. Later on I got to share with a girl named Everlites. We didn't get to finish our conversation, but she is really interested. Hopefully we'll get to talk more tomorrow.

I've figured out that my life has been a life of cynicism. A life enraptured with myself. A life of compromise and mediocrity. And I have been missing out on God's blessings in my life because of it. How sad and pathetic it is to be at the center of your own universe.

I feel I have figured this out much too late.