Starbucks, Malachi and a Woman called Kitty

Much to the chagrin of many of you, I frequent the local Starbucks. There are a few reasons I make this an almost daily habit. 1.) I enjoy the coffee. 2.) I enjoy building relationships with the employees. Over the past year I have been able to have some meaningful conversations with a few of the employees (one of them being the store manager). I have prayed for them often, asking God to provide opportunities to talk about Him.

Wednesday I walked in the store and a few of the green-aproned personally greeted me and my coffee was waiting for me as I approached the counter. They know me well.

One lady, we will call her Kitty because that's her name, began her conversation with "I need to talk to you about the bible." What?! She went on to ask me about the book of Malachi and the stern words from God about His hatred of divorce. Her boyfriend (she has already been married and divorced) is attending a bible study at an evangelical church in town and for some reason they are studying the book of Malachi. In the midst of my coffee purchase she expressed her disgust at God's words. "What was I supposed to do," she asked. "We didn't get along and we had to get divorced." Still in shock, I began to talk to her about other places in the bible that speak of divorce. Another employee approached the counter and listened in on the conversation. After a few minutes she said, "would you come during our break and lead a bible study?" Others chimed in with approval. Several other customers entered the store so our conversation had to end. As I walked to my car I asked myself, "did that really just happen?"