The Work

Yesterday was an interesting day. I was up quite a bit the night before, watching over Sherrod, who got overheated during the day. I had a very difficult time squashing my frustration over the whole CoVid stuff. I would have taken her to the hospital without a second thought before but now they will not allow adults to have a person with them. That is such a problem. SUCH A PROBLEM. Especially for a diabetic. I am keeping up communication with her Endocrynologist and he is walking us through. She is well but laying low for a few days. And she will need to be careful in future.

But it reminded me what a powerful control tool fear is.

Of course we must also use wisdom. Which I was also reminded of yesterday. I ended up near OKC. When stopping at a gas station, I noticed a family sitting in the grass: Dad, Mom, and 3 little kids. They did not look in distress but they did look stranded. I had Wallace with me but I do not typically approach strangers like that unless Michael is with me. But I just couldn’t walk away from it. So I went over to talk to them and found out their story and OH WOW, were they ever stranded! And they had been completely ripped off. Of course I wanted to help them! I got the idea to put them in my vehicle and take them home until we could get them where they needed to be. But instead of voicing that, I told them I needed to make a phone call and I’d be right back. I called Michael. He was not thrilled that I 1) had left town without telling him, which I always do for safety reasons but had forgotten, and 2) had already approached strangers without him, putting myself at a possible risk. But I really felt the Holy Spirit leading me on this and Michael understands that. Together we discussed a safe way to truly help this family without any real risk.

Meanwhile, I locked my keys in the vehicle. 🤦🏼‍♀️ Ugh. As I looked around for help, there was a man who just had a capable look about him so I approached him. 😂😂😂 My daughters asked later what “capable” looks like. LOL! I don’t know but out of all the people at this very busy gas station, he was the one I was drawn to. He quickly and willingly tried to assist me and with the help of the original man I was trying to help, my door was opened. Turns out the man I asked for help had been sitting there a bit because his battery died and he had asked 5-6 people for help but no one was willing to jump the battery. As I pulled over to his truck and we waited for the battery to do its thing, we talked about God’s goodness and perfect timing and fulfilling our every need, even before we know to ask.

I went back to the original family before I left, to thank them, make sure they had what they needed, and say goodbye. The 3yo girl was so sweet! She started jabbering away and asked me if I would pray for her. Of course I was happy to! We all prayed together right there on the grass in front of OnCue. I commented on how sweet all of the children were and how great their attitudes were, especially in such hot weather and with nothing to entertain them. The father told me of how he tries to teach his family to be content and thankful in all circumstances and to trust in God’s providence. I was so humbled. Here I was, trying to reach out and help someone, and the Lord used him to teach me.

I wonder if I would have been so cheerful in such a situation. Probably not. I am used to things being easy and smooth and I can get ruffled when I’m inconvenienced or troubled by circumstances out of my control sometimes. Especially in heat.

Now I know some may say I might have gotten played. Maybe I did. Honestly, I don’t care. I would rather follow the prompting of the Spirit and reach out in love to someone on the chance they’ll take it and do the same than stew over if they did what I think they should’ve done with it. I’m perfectly happy to let God deal with that. And I’m thankful for the way I saw His hand work yesterday and the sweet lessons He taught through the example of others.