Sarah and I have been operating with the motto “sleep while the baby sleeps” as our guiding principle for the last few months as behaviors in our home have been at their most chaotic in the 6.5 years of working at Boys Town.
We’ve learned that in the moments of peace and quiet we must find ways to rejuvenate our spirits. We must find ways to spend time with each other. We must be able to remind ourselves of the gentleness and beauty and love that is shining around us.
So each week, sometimes multiple times a week, we go to Taste of Thailand (easily the best Thai restaurant in Omaha) for lunch. Here we are served by this man, Farouk, who knows both of our orders by heart. With a big welcoming smile he repeats them to us, just to confirm we haven’t gone off script for some reason, and then gets things going.
He is happy to serve us the curry he and his brother make for us in the kitchen of their humble restaurant. He’s literally happy to do so.
I asked to take his photo today and he took a step back with surprise. “Me?! Really?!” I said “yes!” and then he stood up straight and held his tray out, almost at attention, posed in the posture of his clear servant heart.
This is the gentleness and grace that first feeds my heart, and then a few moments later I eat the best curry in all of Omaha, which then feeds my belly.
Stepping Back 