Abundance

On the corner of the grocery store lot today, Dane and I saw a man holding a sign that said, "Homeless and Hungry. Will accept donations. God bless."

Dane, my tender-hearted child, was overcome by this man and his sign. I explained that, often, homeless people struggled with drug abuse or alcoholism, which had eaten up all their money, and if you gave them cash, they'd just use it to fuel their habit.

"Can we just buy him some food, instead, then, Mama?" he asked. I considered this for a few minutes and then agreed to find a nice ready-made sandwich at the deli to purchase for him. On Dane's prodding, we went there first. We found a large hoagie roll with thick slices of ham, cheese and lettuce and looked filling and healthy. I put it in the basket and we moved through our shopping.

About halfway through the store, Dane said, "Mama, that man must be thirsty. It's hot today and he could get dehydrated standing out there in the heat. We better get him a drink, too."

I told him that we could pick up a chilled beverage from the cooler by the check-out counter. About every 3 minutes, Dane would comment again about the man. Sometimes it was "I bet he's really thirsty", other times it was "I hope he's still there" or "I'd hate for him to be gone when we're buying this nice sandwich for him", "Do you think he'll really eat it?" "How will we know if he eats it or not?", "He looked really sad, Mommy" . . . He was consumed by this man and his troubles. I didn't know what to say. Obviously, this situation had really touched Dane's heart. The only way I could respond was that there was no way to know, but we just needed to trust God. If the man was really hungry, then the food would be a blessing to him. If he was just looking for drink money, it wouldn't phase him.

As I stood in line at the check-out, Dane picked out a soda for himself and one for the man. We put the sandwich and soda last on the conveyor belt and asked the cashier to put them in a separate bag. When I loaded the groceries into the trunk, I gave Dane the bag to hold in the backseat. He sat at the far right of the car, ready to jump out and give the bag to the man.

All that worrying and questioning in the grocery store got ME thinking. I checked my wallet to see if I had any small bills - a $5 would do perfectly - not enough to buy drugs or much alcohol, but enough for a small fast-food meal, if he really was hungry. I found four $1, pulled them out, folded them, and crammed them in the bag. Then I talked it through with Dane. He said he thought I shouldn't give the man any money, that the food was enough for today. Pretty good reasoning, I thought, so I slipped the bills into my pocket.

I was a little nervous about the encounter Dane may have with the man. I've known of panhandlers that threw food at the donor before and cursed them, going through withdrawals and wanting a fix more than the proferred meal. I told Dane not to talk to him, just to jump out, give him the bag, and jump back in the car again. I pulled up even with him, Dane handed him the bag and there were a few words exchanged, then Dane jumped back in the car. On a whim, I turned the wrong direction, went a little ways up the road, then turned around and went back the right direction, slowing to a crawl as we passed the man.

According to Dane, he looked in the bag, said "Thank you and God bless you" to Dane who responded, "You're welcome" before hopping back into the car. As we drove back by, the man was packing his sign into a small suitcase sitting next to him and was obviously calling it a day.

Dane's convinced that the man DID need food and, once his need was met, had no more need to panhandle and was heading off for a bench in the shade to eat. I'm not sure that's the whole story, but it was a nice ending for my son. He learned a valuable lesson and his sweet little tender heart wasn't damaged in the process. We prayed for the man on the way home, as well.

At dinner tonight, Don asked Deanna to say a special Sabbath blessing (as Christians, we celebrate the Sabbath from Saturday sundown to Sunday sundown, a day later than the Jews). Her prayer was very sincere and serious and she thanked the Lord for His provision for us and asked him to bless all those who don't have food on their tables. I jerked my head up and stole a glance at Dane. He was looking at me, wide-eyed, and nodded. I smiled back.

After the blessing, he told his story about the homeless man and his take on the man's need being met. It was interesting to listen to his version and realize that life has jaded me and his innocence is quite refreshing. I'm very thankful we saw that man today and had an opportunity to share a little of our plenty with him. Maybe he decided to move to another location in the hopes of finding a money tree or maybe he really just wanted a meal. In any case, my heart grew some today and Dane's was touched.

Lord, bless all those that are homeless tonight, either by the circumstances of their lives, hard luck, or poor choices. Pour out your blessings on them. Let them eat of the living bread of abundant life in You and drink deep of the waters of Your Holy Spirit. And help each of us who have so much to be thankful for your provision for us and never take it for granted. Amen.