Skip to main content

Samaritan Strangers

Two weeks ago I was checking out at Target. It was a large purchase, and it wasn't until the last few items were being scanned that I noticed that I had left my wallet in the diaper bag... in the car... flustered, I explained my predicament to the cashier who gave me a warm smile and told me not to worry, just to retrieve it. So I gathered Charlie in my arms, hurried across the long expanse of the parking lot (I'm one of those weird people that parks in the boonies) and hurried back. I thanked the cashier and gave an apologetic look at the woman behind me in line. She shrugged nonchalantly and said with a sincere smile, "we've all done that at least once." On my way out of the store, as I tried to carry my frustrated baby in one arm and push the cart with the other, a different lady with two elementary school aged daughters ambled up next to me and asked, "can we help you to your car?" To which I gladly accepted, and they did.

Last Saturday, I was chatting with Kevin on the phone while I filled up the Jeep. After an awesome hike, I realized my car was running on fumes and prayed as I coasted down the mountain that I'd make it to Will's Pit Stop... which thankfully, I barely did! As I talked with him, the fact that it was my birthday came up in conversation, and as I pumped gas into the car I rattled on about how awesome the hike was and Kevin told me about how he finished his homework. As I finished up and started to climb back into the car, a man from the next pump over shouted, "HEY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Startled, I smiled and thanked him. He'd overheard my conversation and just up and decided to wish me well.

Today I was at the checkout again. This time at Walmart, with some new garden plants and some veggie-fruit-plant-friendly pesticides (you see, these nasty little insects destroyed my cilantro, zucchini, and parsley! But they haven't gotten the better of me. I'M DETERMINED TO HAVE A GARDEN!!). Charlie was strapped to my chest, and bending over to grab the plants from the cart and put them on the conveyor belt took me twice as long as normal. A young woman in front of me turned and asked, "can I help you with those?" After I nodded she took all my plants out, helped the cashier get them scanned, and then waited to put them all back into my cart. Her name was Dye (sp?), and she was on her way to make Elote for a barbecue fiesta.

GUYS, THERE ARE SAMARITAN STRANGERS EVERYWHERE. THERE ARE GOOD PEOPLE WHO DO WHAT JESUS WOULD DO. WE JUST NEED TO RECOGNIZE THEM. AND AS OFTEN AS WE'RE ABLE, WE NEED TO CHOOSE TO BE THEM.

Comments

  1. I've experienced Samaritan strangers too, many times. Those experiences always leave me feeling God's love so strongly.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He's so aware of us and meets our needs through others :)

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Problem with Chick Flicks.

I really, really, really enjoy a select few movies that I willingly watch over and over again. Pride and Prejudice is one of them. You see, Elizabeth's defense of her family, her sense of self respect, her ability to admit that she was wrong and to appreciate Darcy despite all his quirks, and quizzical brow-ness... it's marvelous. My husband doesn't share the sentiment, could you tell? ... and that's okay. There's rare a chick flick I enjoy near as much as I enjoy Pride and Prejudice or A Walk To Remember , and I wanted to explain why. You see, there's more than just a few problems with (many, not all) chick flicks:  (and if you have a chick flick that escapes many of these pitfalls then please oh please leave it's title in the comment section!) The heroine (or suitor) is less than honorable. I have a hard time rooting for a girl to get a gentleman when she's spending her time being scandalously loose with other men ( #thenotebook) . An...

What you hear vs. what you say

Have you ever misheard somebody? For the longest time my old seminary teacher thought that the primary song said “shalminnow” instead of “by this shall men know ye are my disciples...” He was convinced that The song was referring to the Jesus fish some people plaster to their bumpers. My brother Austin used to sing “I almost want to be with my own family” instead of “always...” And I had a long debate with my old roommate about Michael Buble’s hit song “Met you yet.” She was convinced he said “I guess it’s half time-in, and the other half luck.” Like time-out time-in in a football game. Do any of those mistaken lyrics make any logical sense to anyone but the mistaken? Of course not. But that’s what makes them hilarious!! I’m particularly guilty of mis-hearing and mis-reading people. Just because  I  speak English with other English speakers doesn’t always mean that we communicate effectively. From this I’ve gathered a few things about talking with people: 1) ask ...

The Wright Kind of Family

Today's blog post is a question, a question for YOU, the reader.  No, I don't mean somebody else in the blogosphere.  You there, reading this, right now. What makes for a happy childhood?  How can I raise the "Wright" kind of family? During my brief visit to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C., what amazed me more than all the aircraft and space gear and aerodynamic science combined was the following quote by Katharine Wright, younger sister of Orville and Wilbur Wright: Additionally, Wilbur stated: WHAT A STATEMENT. What a tribute to their parents and to the family culture fostered in their home. My interest and desire to know more about their homelife is piqued, so I'm 99.9% sure I'm going to buy this book on Amazon tomorrow so that I can learn more:  What I want to know is how to grow a family where the kids rush home because home is the place to be! I want to know how to host an environment that suppo...