Never Suppress...

A generous thought. I started out my day feeling like a rage machine. I was tired and cranky and wanted all the slow pokes who kept cutting me off to GET OUT OF MY WAY! Fortunately my day ended on a much humbler note. I left work at 6:20 and was headed down the road for a 630 visiting teaching appointment when an Indian woman in her mid 40s pulled up next to me and gestured for me to roll down my window. I did, figuring something was wrong with my car. Thankfully, my car was just fine. She proceeded to ask if I knew how to get to "Nelson St," and could I please help her because her "kids were hungry." She had a son and daughter, both under the age of 11 from the looks of it, in the car with her. She was clearly distressed. I had a hard time understanding her accent and asked her to repeat the name of the street a few times. It turned out that I didn't know where the street was. I said I was sorry and we rolled up our windows.

Here's where the generous thought came in... I thought to myself, "I could look that street up on my GPS, but by the time I get it out and turn it on the light in front of us will turn green. " I wrestled with that for a few seconds and almost drove away when I made the decision to pull over. I gestured for her to follow while calling my friend to let her know I would be late. I got out of the car, GPS in hand, and walked up to her window. She showed me the address and I typed it in. I figured the kids were late for a birthday/pizza party or something. Seeing as my GPS is new I couldn't figure out how to get the actual word by word directions (I'm no technological guru). She asked if she could follow me and I said, "Sure no problem." In our cars we got... and off we went. Three turns and about 2 minutes later we were at our destination. My eyes were instantly tear filled as I read the sign on the building of 7208 S Nelson St, "Arlington Food Assistance Center." Dozens of people stood outside waiting for their meal. This is where her two hungry children would eat dinner for the night. No pizza/birthday party for them. I got out of my car as did the woman. She thanked me several times and said that she had "only been here three times," indicating that this was why she couldn't remember how to find the center. I got back in my car and started to leave when another thought came to my mind, "Give her the cash in your wallet." I got back out of the car and handed her the cash. I could tell she didn't want to take it because she felt badly. I insisted and she accepted. She just kept thanking me so genuinely. She asked me what my name was and then said, "Kids this is Kristi." They smiled happily and said "hello." They seemed just as sweet as could be. As I drove away she waved and just kept saying "Thank you."

I felt so humbled by this experience. It completely changed the ending to my day. I went from rage machine to awe struck and speech less. What would have happened if I hadn't taken a few seconds to help this person out? Maybe she would have found the shelter, maybe she wouldn't have. Regardless, I'm sure God would have provided some other way to help this woman and her family. Either way I'm so grateful I was able to be that person today. It has taught me a number of important life lessons. It is SO easy to suppress a generous prompting. Life is busy and we all have places to be and things to do. We move on from one hectic moment to the next often whizzing by people in need without even realizing it. I share this experience because it touched me so deeply... not for the sake of "tooting my own horn." I only share this experience in the hope that whoever reads this (including myself) will try their best to never suppress a generous thought, because you never know who's prayer you'll be the answer to.