Humidity suffocated the end of spring that year. It snuck into town ahead of the tourists. And she showed up around the same time. That’s why I remember it.
As spring passed the baton to summer, the rickety wooden boardwalk slats sweat remnants of last summer. Aromas of briney old pizza announced the impending summer rush.
I was finishing up the freezer inventory with David when she walked in.
She seemed unaware of her natural elegance. And if she was at all aware of it, she simply ignored it. She prized her determination. She wore it like armor. But to everyone else she was first gorgeous.
She swept the room with her eyes. As she caught mine, “Excuse me,” she said. “I saw the help wanted sign. I’d like to fill out an application to bus tables.”
“Sure, take a seat. I’ll grab one from the back.”
When I turned to go to my office I saw the guys glancing over at her like tigers in the brush, pretending they’re not interested, yet knowing exactly where their prey is.
She sat down and focused on her hands as she laced her fingers together in front of her on the table. She quickly reached up tucking a loose lock behind her ear.
I noticed it then. Her desperation. Most men don’t quantify women’s vulnerabilities consciously; they react to them on a primal level.
After she filled out the application, which was just a formality, I offered her the job. The hints of eagerness she let escape sealed her spot.
“When can I start?” She said.
“Well, we open….”
“I can wash windows too.” She interrupted.
I smiled.
I called Sandy over and tasked the two with washing all the windows and glass doors.
Later I would tell Sandy to take her under her wing. Sandy had been with us for years; she would teach her the ropes. And she’d be kind enough to pick up her slack as the young woman found her way.
As they started on the windows, I gathered the kitchen for a meeting.
“We are men, not animals,” I told the guys.
“She’s not your next challenge, fellas. If she works here, we protect her like a part of the team. She is one of us now. Jesse, you make sure she eats lunch every shift. Throw an extra burger on and don’t make her ask.”
Over the next few days she reminded me of a kitten alone in an alley hiding behind an overturned crate. She was fragile and feisty. She worked as hard as anyone in the restaurant. She couldn’t tell who was out to get her and who wanted to take care of her. But I would make sure none of my guys would take advantage of her.
The secret of a woman is her softness. Kids need it and us men love it. But we shouldn’t mistake it for weakness as men so often do. We exploit her or overlook her. And her tenderness, like a window to her soul, shatters. If she tries to patch it up we blame her for being broken and swipe her off to the side as all used up.
My mom taught me that.
At a young age I saw my mom flip the script on her life. She backtracked to who she once was and became who she wanted to be all along.
“Will,” she would tell me, compassion soaking her eyes, “Don’t take advantage of a woman’s softness and don’t underestimate her strength. Protect those things about her. Don’t try and convince her that she needs you; let her shine and let her choose you. Call out her beauty and virtue as you would fine art. And don’t touch it without permission. Honor her publicly and privately. The shame is only on you, son, if you use your privilege and position to poison her purity. ”
I don’t know what happened to my mom early on in life. But I know, as an adult, she left the life she was living and found her true beauty again. I don’t know what kind of man I’d be today if she wasn’t bold enough to face her situation and make a change.
She started this company years ago in our apartment kitchen, and now her virtue is written within the walls of every one of our restaurants.
My mom is a true hero.
Who is this Guy?
This story is a modern day take on the book of Ruth.
Ruth, a vulnerable young widow, moved to Israel in a time when “people did what was right in their own eyes.” (Judges 21:25; Ruth 1:1) Women were freely offered to violent men for sex and sometimes murdered. (Judges 19:25-26) One act was so appalling Israel set out to pursue justice for the victim. God told Israel to attack the perpetrators, and many guilty men from the tribe of Benjamin were killed. But Israel had a change of heart. And again the preservation of men was favored over the protection and safety of women. In the end, in order to preserve the remaining men, the Benjaminites ambushed and kidnapped women to take as their new wives. (Judges 21:15-18, 23)
Miraculously, the culture of violence against women didn’t leach into the values of a rich landowner named Boaz. He was different. He honored women. Someone had taught him well.
Boaz’s Mom
In Joshua 2 a woman known locally as “the Prostitute” had a fast, hard decision to make. God was about to destroy her sin soaked city. So she could either risk exposure trusting in God’s mercy to save her and live. Or keep quiet in her shame, remain trapped in her sexual secrets and die.
Boaz’s mom chose brave. And God did more than she could ever ask or imagine.
Not only did she leave her dark days behind and raise Boaz to be “one of the good ones” of the Old Testament, she ended up in the family tree of Jesus Himself. (Matthew 1:5) An ex-prostitute. Amazing.
Our darkness can never surprise or repulse Him. His mercy trumps it all. And your painful past or present never disqualifies you from a world changing future.
Boaz’s mom Rahab was running a brothel and prostituting herself when she decided to trust God. She was the perpetrator and the perpetrated, yet God came to her house and gave her one last chance to to get free before her world came crashing down.
You are never too far gone for God to reboot your life and give you and your family a powerful future beyond your imagination.
Lord, I believe you will accept me. Even now. Even like this. Even though I did that. You are not afraid of the darkest part of me. I open it up to You so You can walk into it and heal it. I take all my fear and all my doubt and hurl it at the cross today. You are Lord of everything and I trust my whole life, past present and future into your hands. Amen.
Don’t let sexual abuse or sex addiction eat away at your family any longer. Help is available.
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