Oooh Ooooh Ooooh

So...gotta tell you a quick story. Last night, we had leftovers and after dinner, we decided to make a Sam's and Braums run.  LOVE both of those places.  We were pulling at of Sam's on our way to get our dessert and this lady flags us down.  We can see there is a car with the hazards on blocking the exit.  Levi stops and asks if she's okay.  She tells him she has run out of gas and only has $1 on her card.  I told him, let's go to Walmart and get a can and bring it back.  So, he relays the message.  We pull off and he tells me to get her a $10 giftcard too.  Okay, so reminder, this is my blog, I'm not trying to pat my own back but just sharing life and I don't want to have to sensor because I'm afraid of what you'll think.  This is part of my processing and just journaling if you will.  Okay back to story.... $10 is so not a lot, especially in gas language but it would help.  So, I run into Walmart and get the can (that is kind of expensive for a plastic can-it is environmentally friendly) and the gift card.  We rush back over to Sam's to put the gas in can only to find out that Sam's gas closes when the club does....oops!  So, we tell her we'll go across the street and Levi tells me to give her $10 (since the $10 walmart card for gas would be useless to her for gas).  We rush back over, she lights up.  I watch Levi in the rear view mirror open her tank and fill it with the gas and see him hand her the $10.  Ok, she lit up like a Christmas tree and proceeded to hug him, it was a HUGE hug (I wasn't jealous).  Then, she RUNS over to me. I get out and she gives me the same HUGE hug.  She tells me how thankful she is and how that my kids are beautiful and lucky.  I told her that we would want someone to help us if we were in the same situation. She told me again that our kids were fortunate because of us.  I told her that so many times we get it wrong, hopefully this time we got it right.  You would have thought we gave her $100.  As she finished talking to the kids and thanking me, she headed back to Levi who was finishing with the gas, my eyes welled up with tears and I began to cry.  I realized that it wasn't the gallon we put in her car or the $10 to fill it up a little more, it was the act of kindess that lit that lady up.  It was the fact that of all the cars that looked the other way as they had to go out of their way to get around her, we stopped.  I wondered how many times I have driven past people in need whether intentional or unintentional.  How many times have I missed an opportunity to serve others because I'm too wrapped up in myself and I don't want to be bothered?  That's kind of a scary thought.  Levi and I talked about that lady for a while on the ride home.  He said that he told her that if our daughter ran out of gas that he hoped someone would be kind enough to stop and help her.  AL asked me why I hugged that lady? I told her because she was my sister in Christ.  That totally confused her b/c then she asked if Nana was also my sister in Christ which kind of stumped me.  I moved on and let Levi take it from there in the car.  We explained that we do nice things for people because we want to be like God.  I've been challenged this week in my thinking that if I am a friend of God, my character needs to line up with His character.  I don't always get it right.  Some of you have heard me complaining about mowing our neighbor's yard. We're at it again, and it's okay.  As I was mowing this week, I started getting upset about it.  The song, "I am a Friend of God" came in my head, which I haven't heard in forever by the way.  I immediately thought if I'm a friend of God and want the character of God, my actions and attitudes have to line up with that.  My pride sometimes gets in the way, I want to be thanked and appreciated.  That's not what is important.  I want to be okay serving and helping without thanks or appreciation. I want to do things because they're the right things to do, not so that I'll get attention or praise out of it.  So, there's where I am.
BTW, we still made it to Braums and I had my junior rocky road in a cone but to go and a bit later. It felt good to do a good deed. I want to be that kind of example for my kids.