Lunch Lessons

    As I walked into history class and set my lunch down on the empty desk across from me I quickly got working on the mountain of worksheets that were assigned to be due at the end of class. I was still working a few minutes before the bell and was so focused that I didn't realize that the class discussion was about how these boys ate a lunch that someone left in the classroom. Of course it was not JUST anyone's lunch, it was mine. When I realized the location of my missing lunch, I acted like I was not bothered. I quickly walked to my next class because I did not want to bring attention to the fact that I was inadvertently the topic of the class discussion.
      In reality I was appalled at the lack of respect for the property of other people, what would make people think it would be okay to eat someone's lunch? Whether they left it in the class or not, they would have most certainly returned to get it once they realized their mistake.
    I kept thinking about what would have happened if it wasn't my lunch and the poor kid could not afford to replace the food and had to skip a meal because someone thought it would be funny to eat the lunch.

It wasn't until a few weeks later that I learned that:

God uses our experiences to impact others.

Today in yearbook class I overheard a discussion that seemed all too familiar: 

"who's is it?"
 "I don't know, Its been here all class period"
 "should we eat it?"

I stood up. I explained how my lunch had been eaten and how it had ruined my day, and that the kid would most likely be back once he/she realized it was missing. I saved a kids lunch that day. Not on my own of course, for if that hadn't happened to me only a short while before, I would not have even realized what was going on. And as small as a paper sack of food may be, I have a feeling that God used it to make some kid's day a tiny bit better.


Sometimes it takes experiencing something first hand to open our eyes to how it effects others. Often we wonder why we go through the things we do, why God allows good people to go through hard things. Through this experience, I learned that God uses these trials(yes even the small things like getting your lunch stolen) to impact the lives of others. 
whether having lost a child, or lost a lunch, someone around you is probably going through something similar. Open your eyes and use that experience to make an impact. Now GO and see how God uses the tough things in your life to impact someone else!