For the Love of Biscuits

For the Love of Biscuits

Got to my hotel after midnight in Norfolk. I was exhausted but I needed a plan for my 30 hour layover. I yelped the area and found a yummy brunch place: 
Handsome Biscuits
4.5 star with 729 reviews! 
That my friend is a winner winner chicken dinner. 
It was 1.2 miles away about a 20 minute or so walk-totally do-able for me. 

I woke up groggy and HONGRY-
I wondered if the biscuits were tired? Cuz they’d been running through my mind all night
(*cheesy pick up line for biscuits*)

I verified with the concierge before I left. “I’m headed out to Handsome Biscuits-is that a safe walk?”
“Yeah, for sure.”
“How far is it?”
“It’s about a 10 minute walk towards downtown. Totally safe and a great place.” 

I cross the street towards downtown and turn on my gps. Now it says my warm buttery biscuit is 2.5 miles away and a 54 minute walk? Sometimes when I am on the upper story of a hotel, my phone map doesn’t work well. I started to go back in to the hotel to clarify but I thought I could use a brisk walk and he said it was safe and a downtown area. I decided I would just keep on trucking. 

I don’t sweat much -I sparkle haha. However, I was about .5 a mile in and the front of my shirt was dotted with “sparkles.” I was a huffin’ and a puffin’ Apparently Norfolk was experiencing a heat wave. 92 degrees. Our hotel is near the water so it was that muggy sticky kind of heat. ugggggh. Downtown was now behind me so clearly the front desk guy misunderstood the place I was looking for. I was too far in to turn back.

I prayed that God would hide me under the shadow of his wing cuz the further I walked the more dicey the area became. I walked and I walked and I walked some more until my legs were wobbly. I called my husband because I was getting a little nervous. My husband told me the last 6 blocks looked rough on google maps and my surroundings confirmed it. He wanted me to uber but i would have to wait for an uber and I wanted to keep moving. God, why would you send me on a dangerous path? I prayed for Him to lead and guide me that day and that’s why I kept going because I had entrusted my day to Him…but I felt uncomfortable. I was walking and some scary people were eyeballing me. The further away from my hotel I walked, the scarier it was. I looked at my phone. I had been walking in the hot sun for 45 minutes. The restaurant was close-.5 a mile. I turned left as instructed and now I was walking along a tiny desolate side road that ran beside the train tracks with empty warehouses surrounding me. I started all out running. I was praying but I still felt pretty scared that someone would jump out of the warehouses and get me. 

I am running in my flips flops with a backpack on my back like a weirdo when finally see a street with some signs of life ahead and the promised “Handsome Biscuit” sign beamed like an oasis in the desert. 

It was a hole in the wall for sure but I’d made it. If I didn’t get my biscuit and some iced tea I thought I might perish. *deep sigh and back of the hand to forehead 

While I was standing in the somewhat long line yelp had warned me of, this beautiful carmel colored baby girl held her arms out to me and wanted me to hold her. Her family was behind me in line and dad gave me the nod so I scooped the chubby little cutie up. She just looked at me in wonder with these beautiful big brown eyes and a pink pacifier sticking out of her mouth. I asked her young daddy, “Are you a good daddy? He said “Yes ma’am.” I responded, “You have a beautiful gift from God and she is looking to you.” I put her down but she kept coming back to me so I kept holding her.

I finally had a cold beverage and the biscuit was everything I thought it would be and more. 

After my freaking out phone call, my husband had “highly recommended” I uber back so I did. Honestly that wasn’t much better than the walk only shorter. I even UberXL’d it thinking it would be a a better experience but the rusty dented acura that rolled up was not my idea of rolling in style (plz don’t judge me for judgin’ but I just needed something clean and safe. What choice did I have? Walk back along the tracks? So I got in. The guy had crusty sores and marks on his arm. He needed a bath like I did. The car wreaked of cigarette smoke. A ROACH crawled on my foot and I eeked. 

I grew up in a trailer. A house I regularly stayed at was infested with roaches so I’m not above it for sure. I felt like God showed me something about my trip.

You gotta risk it to get the biscuit! JK

I thought I was going for my love of biscuits but I really felt like God led me to that place: Love won’t always be comfortable, clean, or “roach-free” He sends us to those on the outer edge of our comfort zone. He wanted me to pick that baby girl up and pray over her even if just in my head and to let her daddy know she was watching him. I know I was called to walk that road but I don’t know all the details of how I prepared the way, I just know that my steps are guided by the Lord. 

Many of us, as Christians and non-Christians alike, have “worked hard” and made decisions to create beautiful bug free spaces to inhabit. We don’t want to venture into the unlovely or dirty places because we want to stay clean but guess what? Love knows no boundaries and sees past the dirty faces. 

Jesus loved the leper on the side of the road. Talk about dirty-that was CONTAGIOUS. He stood between the adulteress and her rock wielding accusers, Jesus activated the woman at the well regardless of all her “husbands.” He was UNAFRAID and He’s given us the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions and that nothing will in any way harm us so why do we stay in our lily white pristine clean "safe" places? 

Jesus wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty and he wasn’t scared to go into darkness . This was a little lesson that I don’t need to forget where I am called or where I came from. Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty or let your heart sparkle in the most unlikely places. God is with you. The people are transformed with the light and hope you carry and the biscuit is well worth it! The Lord is with you mighty warrior. You have nothing to fear!