"Is that your truck with all the windsurfing gear inside?"

I quickly appraised the scruffy-looking guy standing next to me in line at the bank. Then I looked outside. There was my old dirt-red Ford F-150 4x4 stuffed with windsurfing gear. Two windsurfing boards in their sun-faded bags were sticking several feet beyond the truck bed and two windsurfing masts were protruding yet another few feet.

"Yes, it is."

"Do you windsurf at Mokule'ia Beach Park?"

Now I was thinking, am I supposed to know this person? My wife and I love to windsurf at Mokule'ia, just a few miles from our North Shore home. We've been windsurfing there for more than 20 years, yet I'd never seen this fellow before. How does he know me?

"Yes, I windsurf there all the time."

"Do you have a red windsurfer?"

This really got my attention, that a complete stranger would know so much about me, and I answered, "Yes, I have a big red board. Why do you ask?"

He surprised me with his answer. "I've always wanted to thank you."

Seeing the confused look on my face, he chuckled as he introduced himself:

"I use you to spot. I'm a glider pilot and I take customers up for acrobatic glider rides with lots of loops and tight turns. I see your wake as you sail in and out from the beach park and I use your red board as a marker to see where I am in relation to the airfield for landing and to judge how close I am to the water."

Then I made the connection. Across the highway from the beach park is a small runway for propeller-driven aircraft: Dillingham Airfield. This vintage airfield caters to single-engine acrobatic planes, a few experimentals and ultra-lights, and some commercial flight companies that offer sightseeing tours, skydiving and glider rides.

I left the bank feeling good about myself, but not quite sure why. Here, God used me as a marker for someone else's benefit, and I never knew about it! I wasn't even trying to be useful or good.

I remembered one of my father's favorite sayings, "You never know whom you influence or fail to influence."

This chance encounter reminded me that when we live our lives with Christian intent, we influence people we never realize. God weaves the events of our lives for his masterpiece, and we may never comprehend the enormity of our seemingly minor contributions.

We have a great God.

"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:18)

Lord, use me and the wake of my life's path to guide others safely home to you.

The Rev. Dr. David S. Milotta is a former pastor of Waialua United Church of Christ and author of "Faith Building(s): Partnering With God for Miracles." Expressions of Faith is a column that welcomes submissions from pastors, priests, lay workers and other leaders in faith and spirituality. E-mail faith@honoluluadvertiser.com or call 525-8035. Articles submitted to The Advertiser may be published or distributed in print, electronic or other forms.