Community Contacts

Yesterday morning found me sitting in my car in the Walmart parking lot waiting for a call before driving the 30 minutes home.  (And, no worries, it was completely light out, it was a public place, my doors were locked and my windows open only a little!)  Anyway, two people stopped by.

The first was a pizza boy, giving me this:

I said "thank you" and went back to my, ahem, sudoku game.  I recently tried sudoku for the first time and am already finding it a little addicting. 

The second was a 50ish man in a white-collared shirt.  He spoke to me first, betraying a very southern accent, "Ma'am, may I ask you to read a gospel tract?"  And he stuck these through my window:

I was quick to reply, "I think you should save them for somebody else, because I'm already a Christian!" 

But he interrupted me with a, "It wouldn't do any harm!" 

At that point I realized my Bible was on the seat beside me.  "See?  I just came from a Bible study!"  Well, I think he believed me then, because he said "Praise the Lord!" and asked me where I went to hurch.  He must have really wanted to get rid of those tracts, though, because he left them with me and asked me to pray for his church. 

And that is what happens when you're sitting in the Walmart parking lot. 

Of perhaps a more serious nature, on Friday night when I was getting gas I accidentally locked my keys in my car.  Since I always pay at the pump, I wouldn't have gone into the gas station otherwise.  But as it was, I went in to keep warm while I waited for AAA. 

It turned out, the other guy sitting at the lone table inside was homeless.  I see homeless people a lot (and John says, "Welcome to our town!"), but this one was different.  Usually they're waiting by the side of the road holding up a sign asking for help.  John and I have decided that, when presented with the opportunity, we'll offer them food instead of money.  This time, however, there was no sign, and we chatted for about 10 minutes before it came up that he was living in a tent near the gas station.  There's a construction project going on nearby and he's hoping to get work there.  It sounded like he was doing all right until the economy hit bottom.

I realized how blessed I was to be going home to a warm, cozy place filled with necessary and unnecessary life goods.  I asked him if he ever went to church, but didn't have the boldness of the man who accosted me in the Walmart parking lot. 

Sunday evening, on our way to church, John and I stopped at the gas station to see if we could pick him up.  The ladies behind the counter said that they hadn't seen him all day.  He missed Pastor Fisher preaching on why God is good to unbelievers from Romans 2, which would have been perfect.  But later that evening as we drove by, we noticed him outside in front of it.  So, we plan to try again next Lord's Day.  If you remember, I'm sure that this man could use your prayers.