So today I was going to Wal Mart...AGAIN. My Hubby is ill. Nothing sounds good, bless his heart, EXCEPT Gatorade! Popsicle & Milkshake! I have NONE of those on hand, thus a trip to Wal Mart. Samuel, my oldest man~child, rides with me! ( I LOVE time with him!) We chat! Laugh! Listen to music. GOoD times!
We pull into the parking lot, upon entering is a person holding a sign VERY similar to the one posted above! I comment to Samuel how cold it is and that I need to get cash when I check out to give to them... it is so cold I add! As we are running to the van (it is horrifically cold) I realize I forgot to get cash !! DRATS! However, I remember I have a McDonald's card in my wallet. $10 not much but literally all I had! I pull up close... It is a YOUNG lady. Beautiful face! Not clean , LONG dreads ( I love dread locks! ,I DO !!!) Samuel hands her the card tells her how much is on it and she thanks us and I tell her GOD bless you ! She smiles and we drive off !
I am quiet. Samuel is quiet! Then I say, "Why did I not buy her food while I was in there?" Grrr ! " I am so dense!" I exclaim!!
I come in and I feel "DREAD" ~full ! I KNOW I am called to do more!!
In the kitchen as we unload the items Mark requested, I look at Samuel, I smiled, he smiled! I said, " grab some bags! " WE pack bags! Fruit... apple, oranges, bananas!! Cheese sticks! Crackers! Nuts! Raisins! Bottles of water! I was disappointed I only had a used jar of peanut butter!! Samuel said," Mom put this in" It was a HUGE jar that I had bought for him to take back to college with him! He says,"Mom, really, she NEEDS it" !! Did I say I LOVE this child???
We rustle around. I warm up a bowl of homemade chicken soup. Wrap up a spoon & napkin. Samuel goes to the drawer and grabs more disposable utensils and napkins. GOOD call!
Bag up Pizza. (Who doesn't like pizza? HOT? Warm? or Cold???
Granola bars! Bags of chip. Cans that can be popped off.
Samuel goes into the pantry then heads outside... he comes back in with a gallon sized bag full of dog food!
Precious!
Did I mention the young lady had a dog with her?
We loaded up and headed back to Wal Mart! Music was playing .... Care to guess the title? Casting Crowns - "Does Anybody Hear Her?"
Next tune? Honestly I can NOT remember... it mentioned "lonely" "home" I told Samuel "ABSOLUTELY not a coincidence! A GOD~incident!"
We get closer I am pleading that she is still there. We pass a really old small car near where she was standing... "I bet that is hers" !! As we pull into the parking lot a MAN is now holding the sign... I read it as I turn to park next to the car... "Homeless! Down on luck. With Baby!!" God Bless!
I start crying! A baby !!!
The young lady was in the backseat with her young baby boy! She rolls down the window. Her face lights up smiling! I beam back at her. I begin telling her what is in the bags. She is overwhelmed with gratitude! When I mention the dog food she was floored!!!
I ask her her name. Lindsey! Her lil guys? Dakota! She introduces me to her two dogs also !!! Blue & Ramen!! I introduce myself. She tells me thank you many times!! Then shares that they are headed to Florida. Her husband's cousin has a job for him, carpentry... they just need to get there.
I ask if I can give her a hug? She says YES!! I hug her. I grab her dreads and squeeze! I tell her I will continue to pray for her and her Dakota . She tells me she will pray for me too ! HOw precious is that!!??!! We both tell each other May God Bless You !!!
AND MEAN IT !!!
She has her baby,Dakota, wave with her as we drive off !
I can't stop crying. But I try. I don't want Samuel to feel really uncomfortable!!
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Please know...
I did not tell this to bring any recognition to
myself!! HORRORS!
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What happened today? I feel it was a God ordained moment!
What did I learn??
First off, we/I are/am unbelievably BLESSED !!!!
Yes, I forgot to buy things for Lindsey... Yet, when I arrived HOME! ( I have a HOME!)
I have food! MUCH food!
A pantry packed , a plethora of produce & products!
I have a car!
I am warm!
I know where I will sleep!
I KNOW my children are warm. Safe. Filled.
I witnessed my son unselfishly serve a stranger!
Oh,how very much I take for granted! Father, please forgive!! I ask that You continually REMIND me that everything I have is from YOU !!! Even my very next breath! Prompt me and lead me! Open my eyes and my heart! And Lord may You be praised! And Your name Glorified!!! You are THE GIVER of all things GOoD !! Thank You Father for allowing me to meet Lindsey! I KNOW You are only a call away from her !!! I take such comfort in YOUR Faith~FULL~ness!!!
2 comments:
It is a priceless filling, isn't it?! When you "see" the one robbed and beaten (and sometimes left for dead) on the side of the road! Too often I've been guilty of passing them by. Not just without the passion that comes, but just so consumed in my own self that I am blinded to them. Selfishness and self consumption never fills! Oh, it "feels" though.... with a continual lust for more... though never satisfying the longing that is seeking it's filling.
I've learned that if not for the grace of God, that person you stopped and fed could be me! That man and woman and child and dogs that have no home could happen to any of us.
Thanks for being a Jesus with skin on that needed Jesus physically that day.
As a friend and I talked about the other day, some of those people that we're praying for.... sometimes we ARE the answer to those very same prayers! Sometimes we are the person that we are praying for God to send!
I love you dearly! Everyday!
I am stunned! You allowed yourself to be HIS hands and feet!!!!!!
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