The Blessing of the Mundane
Here is another great "Rags to Riches" story from one of our members. I hope they inpire you as they do me.
My "Rags to Riches" story is probably not as dramatic as some, but still quite a blessing to me. A few weeks ago I was out with two of my daughters. We had stopped at BP for gas. As I was beginning to pump my gas, a small, frail, elderly man came up to me. He told me that he was nearly out of gas and had left his wallet at his son's house where they had just been visiting. It seems he thought his wife had his wallet and she thought he had his it. Neither of them did. He asked me for a few dollars so that he could put enough gas in his tank to make it back to his son's house to retrieve the wallet. As circumstances would have it, both of my girls heard his request. Here was my dilemma, I only had $9.00 on me and not much more than that available to me in the bank (it was the day before pay day!). I instantly told the man that I had no cash on me. It's hard to know who to trust these days. I was leery of a little old man! As I turned back to my car, I looked inside at my daughters starring back at me. As I looked at them, I realized two things. I may have only had $9.00 to my name, but he had none. I also realized that my family is the biggest blessing I have. You cannot put any price on that. My children count on me to teach them right from wrong. It is my job as a Christian parent to teach them about God's love and mercy. They need to learn that in the big scary world we live in that not everyone is out to get you, and they need to be more like God and have compassion. To help those in need. They need to learn that if everyone acted as Jesus would, this might not be such a scary place. When I saw them starring back at me I immediately knew what my heart and my head were telling me. I took out the $5.00 bill and walked over to the next pump where by then the little man was starring at his little wife wondering what to do next. I gave him the $5.00. His eyes lit up and I could see the worry drain right off his face. When I returned to the car, my girls looked at me in amazement. They immediately asked why I have given him the last of my money (the other $4.00 went into my gas tank). I told them that God has given me many blessings. I am grateful for the only true treasures that I have my family. I told them that God would want us to help people in need. There may come a time in the future when I am the one at the pump with no wallet, and maybe someone will help me. They then asked me, "Mommy, how do you know he was telling the truth?" My reply, "I don't, but that doesn't change things."I know that's quite a long story, but I felt a need to share it. I didn't have anything miraculous happen to me later that week. I didn't win the Publisher's Clearing House Sweepstakes or find a diamond ring, but nothing horrible happened to me either. We have had a mundane, run-of-the mill week. No one was hurt, sick or died. Our house didn't catch fire and our car didn't blow up. No one lost their job. Our biggest problem was whose turn it was to have the remote. To me that’s the biggest blessing I could hope for in return. With four kids (two teens, a "tween" and a pre-teen, having a run-of-the-mill week is always a blessing, one that you can't put a price on. There are many people out there that weren't so blessed this week. I guess my point is, sometimes the smallest things are the biggest blessings. Often we take that for granted. If you do a good deed this week and nothing "big" happens, just remember, that just may be your blessing.
Keep these great stories coming. It is so great to hear the good things people do for their fellow man when all the news wants to report is the evil. Have a great day!
In His Shadow,
Pastor Ken
My "Rags to Riches" story is probably not as dramatic as some, but still quite a blessing to me. A few weeks ago I was out with two of my daughters. We had stopped at BP for gas. As I was beginning to pump my gas, a small, frail, elderly man came up to me. He told me that he was nearly out of gas and had left his wallet at his son's house where they had just been visiting. It seems he thought his wife had his wallet and she thought he had his it. Neither of them did. He asked me for a few dollars so that he could put enough gas in his tank to make it back to his son's house to retrieve the wallet. As circumstances would have it, both of my girls heard his request. Here was my dilemma, I only had $9.00 on me and not much more than that available to me in the bank (it was the day before pay day!). I instantly told the man that I had no cash on me. It's hard to know who to trust these days. I was leery of a little old man! As I turned back to my car, I looked inside at my daughters starring back at me. As I looked at them, I realized two things. I may have only had $9.00 to my name, but he had none. I also realized that my family is the biggest blessing I have. You cannot put any price on that. My children count on me to teach them right from wrong. It is my job as a Christian parent to teach them about God's love and mercy. They need to learn that in the big scary world we live in that not everyone is out to get you, and they need to be more like God and have compassion. To help those in need. They need to learn that if everyone acted as Jesus would, this might not be such a scary place. When I saw them starring back at me I immediately knew what my heart and my head were telling me. I took out the $5.00 bill and walked over to the next pump where by then the little man was starring at his little wife wondering what to do next. I gave him the $5.00. His eyes lit up and I could see the worry drain right off his face. When I returned to the car, my girls looked at me in amazement. They immediately asked why I have given him the last of my money (the other $4.00 went into my gas tank). I told them that God has given me many blessings. I am grateful for the only true treasures that I have my family. I told them that God would want us to help people in need. There may come a time in the future when I am the one at the pump with no wallet, and maybe someone will help me. They then asked me, "Mommy, how do you know he was telling the truth?" My reply, "I don't, but that doesn't change things."I know that's quite a long story, but I felt a need to share it. I didn't have anything miraculous happen to me later that week. I didn't win the Publisher's Clearing House Sweepstakes or find a diamond ring, but nothing horrible happened to me either. We have had a mundane, run-of-the mill week. No one was hurt, sick or died. Our house didn't catch fire and our car didn't blow up. No one lost their job. Our biggest problem was whose turn it was to have the remote. To me that’s the biggest blessing I could hope for in return. With four kids (two teens, a "tween" and a pre-teen, having a run-of-the-mill week is always a blessing, one that you can't put a price on. There are many people out there that weren't so blessed this week. I guess my point is, sometimes the smallest things are the biggest blessings. Often we take that for granted. If you do a good deed this week and nothing "big" happens, just remember, that just may be your blessing.
Keep these great stories coming. It is so great to hear the good things people do for their fellow man when all the news wants to report is the evil. Have a great day!
In His Shadow,
Pastor Ken
posted by Pastor Ken at 10:36 AM
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