The other day, I told someone about this story, and was really encouraged to share it, so here it is! As you read this, I encourage you to show love to someone that really needs to be loved on, and who needs Jesus.
About 2 and a half weeks ago, I was working, and was heading to break with one of my coworkers. We were then stopped by an elder lady who asked us the time. We told her the time, and she started panicking because she missed her bus. "I guess I'm going to have to walk home, which means that I can't buy all the groceries I need." she said as she started to walk away. I had a lot of compassion for this lady. I had helped her find a few things in the past so I knew that she wasn't 100% mentally with it. Before I even realized what I did, I offered her a ride home when I got off work. She would have to wait about 2 hours, but she gladly took my offer. "Are you kidding me Jess?! Sometimes I wonder if you even think!" My coworker said as we headed over to a table. "Didn't your parents ever tell you that you don't pick up strangers?! What if she kills you, chops you up, and the freezes you?!" I then started freaking out. Yes, my mom has told me to never give strangers a ride home, but I just had so much compassion for this lady. I then talked to a couple other coworkers, and they all said I should just ditch her, and go out the back. I took their opinion, and decided that I didn't want to die, and that I would just head out the back way. About an hour and a half later the lady comes up to me. "Thank you so much for your offer! I was able to buy all these groceries, and even frozen veggies." I looked at her cart and saw it was completely full of food. I then knew it, I was trapped into giving this lady a ride. As soon as she left, I prayed so hard that God would have his ultimate protection around me, give me all the peace I would need, and that somehow good would come out of it. By 10:30 I clocked out, and headed to the door where we would meet. At first I couldn't find her and thought I was off the hook, until I saw her looking really confused and looking for me. I then went up to her, introduced myself, threw my backpack in her cart, and walked her out to my car. As soon as we unloaded all her groceries into my car, I walked to cart to the cart rack, and prayed once again that God would protect me. As I climbed into the drivers seat, I asked her where she lived. "Oh, I don't really know. I can tell you my address if that helps!" I thought I was so screwed! "Well, which way does the bus normally drive from? You mentioned you walked from your house to Walmart, would it help if we did it backwards?" I asked, trying to remain calm. She agreed to drive it backwards. We started driving, and I was going about 35. "Wait stop! We are going to have to go a LOT slower, so I can remember where we are!" We drove about 5 mph for about 2 miles. But it worked great for her! She knew which street to turn on, and all the familiar buildings that we needed to look for. She then started to tell me about herself. She told me that she had heart problems and how she needed surgery. She then started eating a lot better, and thought that she didn't need it. She said her memory was horrible. Like she forgot where she lived, what she was doing, and where she was going, and it's incredibly hard for her to do normal things. She said she can only go out to Walmart once a month. She then shared with me how her family completely deserted her, and how she is always lonely. When we finally made it to her apartment, we sat in my car for a little bit. She started to thank me and say how no other associate at Walmart was nearly as kind as I was. She said that if she walked home, she probably would have been robbed because she lived in a tough neighbor hood. She also said that she was so excited to make a new friend. I didn't have the heart to tell her I would have been leaving in two days.
When I got home that night, I thanked Jesus for protecting me, and for giving me the peace that I needed to help the lady out. That night I realized that Jesus gave me his eyes to help me see this lady in need. Jesus helped me see HIM. "I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me" Matthew 25:36. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to share my faith with that lady. She had sever hearing loss. So bad, that she couldn't hear me talk over my engine. But that night, I was able to show that lady love in a different form. I was able to show her something that she really neded.
