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*** WARNING TISSUES NEEDED ***
Restoration Complete
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
One day while I was doing a little grocery shopping, I ran into a good friend I hadn't seen in a long while. When we both finished checking out, we stopped to talk for a while. We were standing between our cars in the parking lot when a man approached us.
"Excuse me folks. I'm having a tough time right now. I thought some money would come through by now, but unfortunately things haven't worked out in getting my goods sold in time to get the money I need for food. I haven't had anything substantial to eat in several days. I wonder if you could spare a little money to help me out?" the man said, looking to us both and then back to my friend.
My friend reached into her pocket and found she had 35 cents left after her grocery shopping. She offered him the money, knowing it couldn't really satisfy his need today, also knowing all she bought she needed for the intended purpose. I had plenty of money with me at the time, and started toward my car to get something for him.
I reached into my car and retrieved my wallet, opened it and quickly pulled out a crisp new bill. I stepped toward him and placed it into his hand while looking him in the eye. "I hope this helps," I said with a smile.
"Yes, I'm sure it will. Anything to go toward what I need to eat tonight," he said, without looking at the bill in his hand. As he thanked us and began to turn to leave, he looked down in his hand. As he realized what he was holding, tears began to well up in his surprised eyes. "I-I-I... Thank.... Well. Ahh. I aaa," he tried
to thank me through his speechless surprise.
I smiled, realizing that he hadn't expected me to hand him twenty dollars. He locked eyes with me and I could feel his soul thank me very deeply; no words were necessary. To break that tension of the moment, his not knowing what to say or how to say it, I replied, "Well, you won't have to worry about how to eat tonight, will you?" smiling broadly, warmed by how surprised he was.
"God bless you! God bless you! GOD BLESS YOU!" was all that would come from his lips. Then, perhaps wondering if he'd offended us, he said, "Are you two religious?"
This time he had *me* speechless. I never know quite what to say to that question. It was my friend's turn to bail us out of one of those awkward moments. "No, not religious exactly, but we certainly believe in God!" she replied with a gracious smile.
With that, he once again thanked us, saying, "God Bless you!" and headed back to where he'd come from near a group of his friends - obviously still awestruck because of a little generosity. What, after all, was twenty dollars in the grand scheme of things? To him, though, it made the difference between eating and going hungry that night. I had all I needed and to give to one who didn't felt great.
As he neared his friends, I glanced upward and thought to myself, "Thank you, God, for allowing me this opportunity to help someone and to touch him so deeply!" Immediately, a rush of love's chill flowed down my spine and across my shoulders. I seemed to be getting a message through that awesome feeling, best translated as, "You're welcome, Jeff! Thank you for helping him and without questioning his intentions! You restored his faith in fellow humans, all for the mere cost of $20.00 dollars."
I literally spun around with joy right there in the parking lot, as tears of joy poured from my eyes, my nose still feeling like it was expanding from all the chilling energy pouring through my body. "Isn't giving beautiful?!" I said to my friend with a big grin, wiping away the tears drenching my face.
"Yes," she said, "that was very kind of you." "Thank you for helping him. I felt so silly having nothing to offer."
"Hey, it was my pleasure. It was my turn! You got it the last time, remember?"
"Yes," she giggled, recalling a similar time she'd helped someone while in my presence. "It takes so very little sometimes to restore people's faith in life."
Written by: Geoffrey (Jeff) Nickerson
Copyright (c) 1998, Geoffrey Nickerson. You may distribute this story
for non-commercial purposes with this message intact. Thank you!
Telling of God's Assured Love,
Jeff
Submitted by Richard
Restoration Complete
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
One day while I was doing a little grocery shopping, I ran into a good friend I hadn't seen in a long while. When we both finished checking out, we stopped to talk for a while. We were standing between our cars in the parking lot when a man approached us.
"Excuse me folks. I'm having a tough time right now. I thought some money would come through by now, but unfortunately things haven't worked out in getting my goods sold in time to get the money I need for food. I haven't had anything substantial to eat in several days. I wonder if you could spare a little money to help me out?" the man said, looking to us both and then back to my friend.
My friend reached into her pocket and found she had 35 cents left after her grocery shopping. She offered him the money, knowing it couldn't really satisfy his need today, also knowing all she bought she needed for the intended purpose. I had plenty of money with me at the time, and started toward my car to get something for him.
I reached into my car and retrieved my wallet, opened it and quickly pulled out a crisp new bill. I stepped toward him and placed it into his hand while looking him in the eye. "I hope this helps," I said with a smile.
"Yes, I'm sure it will. Anything to go toward what I need to eat tonight," he said, without looking at the bill in his hand. As he thanked us and began to turn to leave, he looked down in his hand. As he realized what he was holding, tears began to well up in his surprised eyes. "I-I-I... Thank.... Well. Ahh. I aaa," he tried
to thank me through his speechless surprise.
I smiled, realizing that he hadn't expected me to hand him twenty dollars. He locked eyes with me and I could feel his soul thank me very deeply; no words were necessary. To break that tension of the moment, his not knowing what to say or how to say it, I replied, "Well, you won't have to worry about how to eat tonight, will you?" smiling broadly, warmed by how surprised he was.
"God bless you! God bless you! GOD BLESS YOU!" was all that would come from his lips. Then, perhaps wondering if he'd offended us, he said, "Are you two religious?"
This time he had *me* speechless. I never know quite what to say to that question. It was my friend's turn to bail us out of one of those awkward moments. "No, not religious exactly, but we certainly believe in God!" she replied with a gracious smile.
With that, he once again thanked us, saying, "God Bless you!" and headed back to where he'd come from near a group of his friends - obviously still awestruck because of a little generosity. What, after all, was twenty dollars in the grand scheme of things? To him, though, it made the difference between eating and going hungry that night. I had all I needed and to give to one who didn't felt great.
As he neared his friends, I glanced upward and thought to myself, "Thank you, God, for allowing me this opportunity to help someone and to touch him so deeply!" Immediately, a rush of love's chill flowed down my spine and across my shoulders. I seemed to be getting a message through that awesome feeling, best translated as, "You're welcome, Jeff! Thank you for helping him and without questioning his intentions! You restored his faith in fellow humans, all for the mere cost of $20.00 dollars."
I literally spun around with joy right there in the parking lot, as tears of joy poured from my eyes, my nose still feeling like it was expanding from all the chilling energy pouring through my body. "Isn't giving beautiful?!" I said to my friend with a big grin, wiping away the tears drenching my face.
"Yes," she said, "that was very kind of you." "Thank you for helping him. I felt so silly having nothing to offer."
"Hey, it was my pleasure. It was my turn! You got it the last time, remember?"
"Yes," she giggled, recalling a similar time she'd helped someone while in my presence. "It takes so very little sometimes to restore people's faith in life."
Written by: Geoffrey (Jeff) Nickerson
Copyright (c) 1998, Geoffrey Nickerson. You may distribute this story
for non-commercial purposes with this message intact. Thank you!
Telling of God's Assured Love,
Jeff
Submitted by Richard
