Yesterday on the way to the grocery store I stopped to get gas. While at the gas pump I heard a woman frantically trying to get my attention. She was very upset and told me that she had just left her fiancé and she was able to use her debit card to get gas but a few moments later when she went into the store to get some items she needed for her baby, he had already gotten her access to the debit card turned off. She said that she was now in a position where she needed to ask someone for help. I said, “What do you need?” She said just a few items for her baby. She was trying to travel to her parents’ house. I got the impression that it was of significant distance. I told her that I was headed to the grocery store and to follow me there and I would get her what she needed for her baby. Another woman at the pump on the other side of me overheard some of this and said, “What does she need?” I said, “She needs some items for her baby and I’m going to the grocery store to get her what she needs.” She said, “I want to help too”, and she gave me $20. We drove across the parking lot to the grocery store, both parked and we talked a little as she was getting her precious baby boy out of her car. She told me her name and her baby’s name and I told her mine. She selected some diapers, formula, water and some baby food. I wished her well and sent her on her way while I purchased the items that I needed. She was in the parking lot waiting for me when I went out to my car and she told me she couldn’t thank me enough. I told her to pay it forward and help someone else when she gets a chance and she said, “I will!”
This morning as I was doing my morning devotion, the text was from Job and I was reminded of how non-helpful Job’s wife and friends were when he was suffering. The prayer offered in the Upper Room Discipline was “God, help me bless someone who is in the midst of his or her chaos. Amen.” It put words of gratitude on my heart as I was reminded that God gave me the opportunity to bless someone else in their chaos.
Just as I began writing this message I received a text from a new friend I just met last week, at a Dollar Tree, while in Goldsboro. I was there to purchase supplies that we needed to complete Hygiene Kits at MERCI Center. We had lots of volunteers available to help assemble kits and we were running out of some necessary items. After ringing up and bagging my $146 order the cashier realized that their system was down and they were unable to process credit cards. They could only accept cash or checks and I had neither on me. I was feeling a little stressed because I knew we had volunteers waiting on supplies to keep things going and I really wanted to purchase the items and get back to MERCI Center. A complete stranger in line behind me said: “I’ll just write a check for you and you can pay me back!” We exchanged contact information and I promptly sent her a check the next morning. Nicole sent me a text this morning to tell me she had received the check and that she was glad that she had been able to help out.
God used Nicole to bless me in my time of chaos and God used me and the other woman at the gas station to bless another woman in her time of chaos. I recognize that the woman with the baby who had left her fiancé was likely in the midst of something much more significant than my desire to purchase toiletry items in bulk, but in both instances, decisions were made to simply help a sister out.
Let us all be open to the opportunities that God provides for us to bless someone in their time of chaos.
Peace y’all,
If you would like to print or share this edition of Claire…ification,
you are encouraged to use this pdf:
Claire – Blessing Someone in their Chaos
To read past editions – you are encouraged to follow this link:
https://capitaldistrictnc.org/claire-ificaton/
