There to Help Folk.

I'm usually a pretty put together person. My closet is organized by sleeve length and from white to black. I keep weekly To Do lists on color-coded sticky notes: blue for work and pink for personal. Since I've added another color to the wheel, my mind is constantly zooming from one direction to the next. Between my job, taking care of Clay's needs while he's working 65+ hours a week, being a mommy to two puppies deserving of love and attention, and planning a wedding, I need a few extra hours in the day. (If you know how to go about getting those, please let me know.)

On Friday, after our busy time subsided slightly, my boss let me leave early. It was a beautiful afternoon and I was thrilled to be out running errands without crazy traffic. I stopped to get the food for my bridesmaids dinner the following night and went about my merry way... all the while forgetting that my car was telling me I had 0 miles to empty.

After making a few stops, I got on a back road to head home. About halfway between town and home, I remembered I hadn't gotten gas. Since I had made it 25 miles with it telling me I had 0 miles to go, I decided to attempt to make it to the next gas station instead of turning around. The key word in the previous sentence is "attempt." My car stopped roughly a block and a half from Raceway.

While I was extremely thankful that I stopped where I did, I was also pretty aggravated that I stopped where I did. One more stinkin' block is all I needed to get to the gas station, but I was stranded in the turn lane in front of Advanced Auto Parts! As I trekked in to the store to buy a gas can, a couple pulled up and asked if they could help. My Mama always said not to get in the car with strangers, so I was very apprehensive. As I was talking to the couple, I noticed a Bible in the backseat and immediately felt peace. A Bible on the coffee table doesn't speak as loudly as a Bible in the backseat of a car.

I walked to get gas and the couple pulled their car behind mine. The man jumped out and put the gas in my car for me to keep me from being hit by the traffic speeding by. As I was making fun of myself, he told me that he and his wife were on their way to KFC for dinner but she had passed it even though they went there all the time. They just knew that it happened for a reason because God put them there to help me. They followed me to the gas station, yelled their goodbyes from the window and drove off waving.

This couple was such a blessing. During our conversation, the man said they were "there to help folk." It was such a great reminder of why God gave us life, why He breathed the breath of life into us. God created us for Him (Col 1:16) so the greatest commandment is to love Him (Matt 22:37-38); however, but the second is as important as the first. We are called love our neighbors as we love ourselves! (Matt 22:39)

These people exemplified this. They didn't want anything from me. They were just answering a call made upon their lives. In times where we see and hear greed in every turn, where people live to make another dollar and to outdo the Joneses, it's refreshing to see someone who truly lives for others. What would life be like if we lived to "help folk?"

Now it's my turn to pay it forward and live to help others. Whether it's someone who is walking along the highway searching for gas or someone whose soul is searching for the Truth, I'm up to bat. And so are you.