The Waitress, the Card, and the Cross
It was lunchtime on December 23rd, not that long ago.
Christmas was in the air–maybe you know the feeling — people rushing around, joyful music playing, hearts beginning to soften. Mark and Karen had stopped at a small restaurant in a little town in Illinois, just looking to grab a quiet meal.
Their waitress, a young woman named Lisa, came to take their order. As they chatted, Mark and Karen felt prompted to hand her a “Man on the Middle Cross” film card — a simple tool we’ve created at Spread Truth to help share the message of hope found in Christ. You simply scan the card to watch the film about Jesus and the thief on the cross who repented before he died. Lisa smiled politely and promised she would watch it, though she admitted she didn’t have time at that moment.
But God had His own plan.
Lisa soon went on her break, and in a moment of frustration when she couldn’t find a cigarette, she decided instead to watch the film. As the story of the short film unfolded, it gripped her heart. One scene showed a man desperately trying to reach his son, battling drug addiction, a scene that hit painfully close to home. Lisa remembered her own mother reaching out to her during dark days when she had refused to answer the phone.
But the story wasn’t just about pain—it was about hope, redemption, and love that reaches into the darkest corners of our lives.
When Lisa came back to Mark and Karen’s table, something had clearly changed. They had the chance to talk to her about the true hope of Christmas — the kind that doesn’t fade with the season. Lisa admitted quietly: she didn’t have hope. Not really.
But right there at that table, in the middle of an ordinary restaurant on an ordinary December afternoon, Lisa prayed to receive Christ as her Savior.
It was a Christmas miracle — the real kind; a gift that will outlast every other.
But that’s not the end of the story.
Karen ran to their car and grabbed a Bible to give to Lisa. She apologized because it was marked up with notes and highlights, but Lisa smiled and said, “That’s good. It means I will read the verses you have marked.”
Mark and Karen left the restaurant rejoicing, their hearts overflowing with gratitude, as they made their way toward their destination, Lake Geneva. But God’s work was far from finished. In His perfect sovereignty, He had already orchestrated the next steps. As it happened, a friend living next door to their relatives in Lake Geneva just happened to know a pastor — a pastor who served right in Lisa’s hometown.
The pastor heard about Lisa and went to visit her at the restaurant.
And the story gets better.
On April 13, just a few months after that life-changing lunch, Lisa was baptized — standing as a public testimony of the new life she had found in Christ! She’s now being discipled by three women from her church, growing in her faith, walking daily with the Savior she met at Christmas.
What a powerful reminder:
It doesn’t take a pulpit.
It doesn’t take a grand stage.
It just takes willing hearts — like Mark and Karen — ready to give a card, share a word, and open a door to hope.
May we all take up the challenge to be ready and willing this year.
Because you never know…the next conversation could change a life for eternity.
