I was so blessed yesterday being a witness to God’s love and care for someone in need.
There’s an elderly woman in her eighties that I met years ago, but I didn’t have much contact with her. In the last year or so, I ran into her at the grocery store 2 or 3 times. I introduced myself again, tried to help her, but we spoke little. Then I ran into her at church one night this past winter. We talked longer; I asked more questions. I found out that when it snows, she shovels the snow away from her car all by herself! I asked her how she could do that, particularly when we had a huge blizzard like the one the winter before. She just said she does a little, then takes a break, then does a little more.
I gave her my phone number and told her to please call me if she needed anything. I told her if it snowed, we would call her as my son or husband would help. Well, it didn’t snow much this winter, but one day about 3 weeks ago, I ran into her at the grocery store again. Her car had broken down, and she had called a service to come and help her. I told her I would wait with her, and he was able to get her car running, though we weren’t sure if it was the battery or something else. I again gave her my phone numbers and insisted again that she call me if she needed help.
Fast forward then to Wednesday morning, I was at work when the receptionist rang me to come downstairs. My elderly friend had come to find me because her car was dead in the parking lot nearby. We got a couple of the men at church to help her, and she was off and running again. But that evening, once home, I got a call from the lady who had been on the reception desk earlier in the day. She said a woman had just come to the church to tell us that my elderly friend’s car was broken down on Main Street in rush hour traffic. When this kind lady had offered to help, she declined as she was afraid to go anywhere with her, but she asked her to go to the church and ask for help. So I got the call, and my husband and I immediately left the house to find her and jump her car off.
By the time we reached Main Street, two police cars were there with flashing lights, and they had called a tow truck since her car was stuck in the middle of rush hour traffic. My sweet elderly friend was behind the wheel looking a little shaken by all this activity. We got her out, and I waited with her while my husband and the police got the car moved out of the way, then towed to a local garage. After things settled, I drove her to a dinner she had been on her way to, then later picked her up and took her home.
On Friday, she called me when the car was ready, and we went to get it. I asked her if she would need any help paying for this (knowing the tow alone was over $150), and she said it would be all right. When we arrived at the garage, the man walked out to us, handed her the keys to her car and the invoice and told her she was all set. He said you don’t need to come in and pay; it’s all taken care of, but someone has sworn me to secrecy. Her mouth fell open; she was stunned, and it was an obvious blessing. She tried to follow him back, and he said, “Now I walked out here, so you wouldn’t have to come in, so you can just go, you’re all set.”
She looked at me and said she would pray the Lord would bless this person as he or she had blessed her. “Wow,” I said, “The Lord has provided!” and she said, “Yes!” As I started to pull away, she came walking down toward my car, so I pulled back in. She said, “Look, I want you to see this!” And she showed me the bill which was over $1000! She was so obviously humbled, felt such mercy, and it was just a tremendous need met. We both were in awe of God’s provision.
My kids had been in the back seat of the car, and as we pulled away, I told them, “We were just blessed because we got to witness firsthand God’s care for her.” My son couldn’t wait to get home to call his grandmother and tell her what had happened. It had so obviously affected us all.
The Lord reminded me earlier this year that He wants me to be faithful to those He has put in my path. I haven’t been called to go around the world or be a missionary or personally adopt — but I’ve been called to be faithful in the ministries and places God has put me. I pray I will be and keep my eyes open for how best to reach out to those in my path.
I don’t know who was responsible for caring for this precious woman, but I pray they are blessed, and I know that they will be. Generous giving and living, what an amazing thing to see! I suspect this generous giver knows the generous gifts he or she has been given by the Lord and is glad to have them overflow to those in need. And God’s glory shone for us all to behold!
Praise Proclaimer 