I had such an incredible experience on Friday – not to toot my own horn, but simply because I was humbled by the way God provided for me and another lady.
One of the things I try to do for myself is to get at least 30 minutes of walking in on a weekday. On Fridays, there’s a park that’s close to my home that I walk a loop or two to satisfy this. As I was planning my morning, I had a thought that I wanted to go to a farther park. This would be my 3rd time walking there this week – which is probably more than the last 3 months combined. I planned the route in my head.
No sooner than I got there, as I was to enter the walking trail, I saw an older lady pulling her cart. She stopped me with a familiar old school Jamaican greeting, “mommy, can you help me?”. As I paused to hear what she needed help with, she explained her situation. She had just moved here to the US, and was learning just how difficult it was to survive. On top of that, this lady could have probably been my grandmother, by my guess of her age. As I opened my wallet, there was one bill sticking out – I took it and handed to her, but continued talking to her. She explained what she was trying to do. She started telling me that she had been given a bottle of juice, and she was stretching it to make it last.
Just the night before, I had given my mom some water that was in my car, and she asked how many to leave me. I told her 3, and instead she left 6. I asked the lady if she needed water, and walked back to the car and gave her the 3 bottles. She was so appreciative. She explained that she had just been walking and asking God to provide, and there i was. I stopped and prayed with her that God would continue to meet her needs.
Again, I’m not sharing this for accolades. I was so grateful that God rerouted my plans for the morning, so that that lady and I could intersect. I know that if I had gotten there a minute or two later, that we would have missed each other.
Matthew 5:16 comes to mind ‘In the same way, let your light shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for the reminder that you use regular people to be your hands and feet. Help us to slow down just a little bit so that we can hear your instructions for us. Help us to be obedient when you choose to reroute us for your glory.