I was driving home after rushing to pick up my son's Tux for his Prom, when all of a sudden all of the cars in front of me started to slam on their brakes and rapidly change lanes. I thought, "Now what? It never fails, when I'm running late something always goes wrong." My husband had already called me three times telling me to make sure I was home on time for our very first class on "Finding Your Life Purpose".
I quickly swerved into the fast lane as I noticed the hazard that was causing all of the commotion. A beat up, old, dark brown van with patches of rust, which made it look as though it had been spray painted with polka dots was directly in my way. I made it safely into the fast lane as I stepped on my brakes to avoid hitting the car in front of me . I noticed a man who had torn, dirty jeans, an old, poorly fitted, black suit jacket, and disheveled hair pushing the car from behind. The driver's side door was open and a heavy set woman, in black shorts, a black tank shirt and messy, shoulder length brown hair was also pushing and trying to steer the car across the busy intersection to the side of the road.
I passed them and thought, "Maybe I should help them." Then I remembered I was late, but the thought kept nagging at me as I came up to the next light. I immediately made a u-turn and headed back. As I was making another u-turn to park in front of them I noticed they were arguing, and they both seemed very upset. I parked my car and got out and asked if they needed me to call a tow truck? They said, "No, but do you have a gas can, we're out of gas?" I told them that I didn't but I would go and get them gas and bring it right back. They both looked very relieved and the man tried to hand me a $5.00 bill. I thought...that will only get them one gallon of gas. I said, "Don't worry about it." I was close to my house so I drove home, pulled into the driveway and ran into the garage. I grabbed a gas can and told my husband what had happened and that I felt I needed to help them. He said, "We can't be late for our first class!" I said, "I'll be back in ten minutes and we'll just have to eat dinner after the class." He wasn't too happy but said, "Please HURRY!"
I pulled into the gas station and started to pump the gas when a lady who was getting gas next to me said, "Is everything okay?" I said, "Yeah, there is just a couple down the road that ran out of gas so I'm going to take it to them." She said, "That's awesome...I don't usually do things like that because people are always looking for a handout, but I did one time and it felt pretty good." I told her, "I always try to picture myself in that situation and feeling desperate and would hope that someone would help me or my children." She said, "That's a good idea...I'll need to remember that next time I see someone in need." I just smiled and told her to have a wonderful weekend. I felt sure that she would probably have an opportunity to put her words into action over the weekend.
I finished pumping the gas and ran into the store to take out $20.00 to give to them, knowing that they would need to get more gas than just the two gallons and they obviously didn't have any money. We only had $60.00 to last us the whole weekend and I knew that taking some of our money would leave us really tight, but it was the right thing to do, they had even less than we did.
I jumped in my car and drove back to the spot that they were stranded. The smile and relief on their face told me that they were wondering if I was really going to return. I handed the gas can to the man and he said. "Thank you so much!" He started to put the gas into his tank as the woman walked up to me and I reached into my pocket and gave her the $20.00. Her eyes welled up with tears and she said, "I'm really sweaty, and dirty but would you mind if I gave you a hug?" I said, "Of course not!" As she hugged me she said, "God Bless You!" At that moment I felt like I should tell her what a stranger had told me a couple of weeks before when I was having a really bad day and feeling very down and stressed. So, with tears in my eyes, I said, "Just remember that the Lord loves you." I then got into my car and headed home to attend my first class on "FINDING MY LIFE PURPOSE."
I wanted to share this story with everyone to remind you that there is someone waiting for you to reach out to them every single day. You only have to open your eyes to see the opportunity to be the change in someone's life. Finding your life purpose can be as simple as looking beyond your own personal needs and desires and reaching out to others who NEED YOU!
