Today I decided to stay home from church since the sore throat that I've had all week is still there and TJ is starting to get sick too. I don't want to pass this on to anyone I don't have to. So, in my search for something spiritual that can fill my time I went to the lds.org website and then the byutv.org website and found a video to watch.
I have been touched, recently, by the amazing spirit that comes when you listen to a prompting and give to another. When we went on our trip to Florida we had very limited space. I packed all the food for our trip and as we were heading out the door to pile into the cram packed XUV I felt I should grab the bag of pretzels. I almost didn't. But being the over prepared one that I tend to be, I went ahead and tossed in into the car on top of the already stuffed food box. It wasn't until we reached St. Louis that I realized why that bag of pretzels was there.
Standing at an intersection, in a part of the city where railroads, intersecting highways, and buildings meet, was a man with a sign asking for help.
Many times in my life I have passed these people by. Shaking my head and wondering why they would stand there and pester those driving past. Never looking them in the eye. Feeling disgusted towards them. I remember years ago when a dear friend of mine told me a story about what her daughter said when she saw a man doing just the same thing. He had a bandanna wrapped around his head. She thought he looked like Nephi. That changed my outlook a lot. And then, when reading the scriptures I realized that what I was doing was judging these people. I made assumptions based on what I saw. That was wrong.
Feeling prompted, I asked my sister to grab the bag of pretzels that still sat on top of our food box. She handed it to me and as I reached where this man was standing I opened my window. He gratefully accepted the food and told me to have a blessed day. I was touched so strongly that I cried.
Later we were on the receiving end of a dear friend's kindness and again were touched by that same spirit.
Two days ago when I was traveling to Jeff City I saw a woman standing with a sign. I don't normally carry any money with me. I remembered having a bunch of quarters on my purse and began to quickly dig some out. I wish I had had more time to dig them all out. There were people in line behind me...waiting for the green light. I quickly pulled up and handed her what I had...feeling badly that I couldn't do more.
Today as I watched this and again was touched by this amazing spirit. If we can help only one person today, even in the tiniest way, we need to do it. Do what we can. Share what we can. Give what we can. And love people the way the Savior loves them. Without judging them.
http://byutv.org/watch/3a8b3267-1dce-473e-b301-ef72a199dee0#ooid=hvdWUzNTpQG9tJv_MWYLdL77WpYvJ8hl
I've begun trying to give what I have, too. I rarely have much of anything, but slowly the concept of giving with no expectations is being imprinted on my heart. I hope by the time I need to head into the next life I have shown that I love my Savior by loving my brothers and sister unconditionally.
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