Random Act of Un-kindness

Yesterday’s to-do list included the pleasure of picking up my firstborn at O’Hare Airport after not having seen him for ten months. Allowing the usual two hours to make that trip from Michigan, I added 45 minutes for a stop at Walmart to get groceries for Christmas Day.

The store was crowded, and I was in a big hurry.

After my list sent me to three of the four farthest corners of that expansive store, I was finally ready to check out – ten minutes “overtime” on my schedule. But when I found a line with only one customer, I was sure God was helping me.

checking outI plunked my items on the belt double-time, piling them two and three deep to get them all on at once. The check-out girl said to the woman in front of me, “That’ll be $19. 70.”

The customer stood with her back to me, her purse in the cart’s baby seat, arms leaning on the push-bar. It was the posture of exhaustion. Her elbows never left the cart as she rummaged through her purse looking for payment. Tapping my toe and checking my phone, I mentally berated her for not having it all together.

As she continued rifling through her purse, she didn’t say a word. She didn’t even turn in my direction to say, “Sorry.” An eternity of four minutes passed, and I could feel the sweat breaking out beneath my down coat. Apparently she felt it too, because she stopped rummaging long enough to take her coat off, folding it into the cart next to her Walmart bags.

As I considered unloading the belt and rolling my cart to a different register, I heard from God (in my spirit). “Margaret, pay her bill and get ready to share your faith.”

“Good idea,” I thought. “Then I can finally get checked out!”

Obediently I put my hand on my purse but found it hard to turn off the frustration. But suddenly the woman produced a Walmart gift card and handed it to the checker, which turned out to be not enough to cover the bill. Lacking four dollars and change, she resumed digging while I pulled out my wallet. “But Lord,” I thought, “it might embarrass her to just hand her money. After all, she’s paid part of the bill now.”

moneyI glanced at my phone. Five more painful minutes had passed when finally she produced a couple of crumpled bills and a handful of change. Her receipt rolled out of the cash register, the woman rolled her cart away, and my opportunity rolled up and died.

 

But God had something more to say.        [Next blog post]

We must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35)

A Purple Bible

Finding myself back in the Chicago suburbs last weekend, I had no idea how much fun God had in store. Baby showers are always energizing as women gather to celebrate new life and help “induct” young parents-to-be into the adventure of parenthood.

Roxanne and me.After the shower, I listened to one of the other guests tell stories of God-sightings in her life, always an inspiration. Hearing the details of another woman’s radical trust in God urges the rest of us to trust him “just like that.”

Roxanne told of a recent mission trip to Hungary with the church high school youth group. Their purpose was to teach English to Hungarians by day and fellowship with them by night. Those whose native language is English are welcomed into foreign cultures by those wanting to learn the language. Roxanne, along with the other leaders, prayed God would use them in ways that would bring the students closer to him.

When Roxanne’s luggage didn’t appear in the Hungarian airport, she became a celebrity of sorts, borrowing clothes for a few days and remaining upbeat about her suitcase. Thankfully she’d packed her “necessities” in her carry-on bag.

One of those necessities was her favorite Bible, the one her husband Ricky had given her as a birthday gift years before. It was unusual in that it was purple, and through the years Roxanne had underlined and filled the margins with notes of personal discoveries.

One evening a Hungarian student named Sabrina noticed Roxanne’s purple Bible. In broken English she asked about it, and Roxanne felt God nudging her to give away her Bible.

“Really, God?” she said. “She can’t even read English, and this is the English Standard Version!”

Purple BibleSabrina asked to see the Bible, and Roxanne resisted, not wanting to part with her treasure. But she had prayed God would use her, and God’s intention was clear.

As Sabrina was walking away with the purple Bible tucked under her arm, Roxanne said, “Try to read the underlined words first. I’ll be praying for you.”

Roxanne’s prayers about the trip began to change. For one thing, they had Sabrina’s name in them. They also pleaded with God to open her understanding to the underlined words in the Bible.

Roxanne wasn’t able to go on the next mission trip back to Hungary, but when that was over, those who’d gone told her they’d seen Sabrina, who was still working at her English. And she was carrying the purple Bible.

God works wonders with his Word and watches over it carefully. From our point of view, it’s a long shot that Sabrina will manage enough English to understand and appropriate the words inside her purple Bible. But Roxanne is trusting God to teach her — both the English language and the truths of his Word.

“My Word…. shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11)