Keep The Change

I arrived at 6:45 this morning. There were already about thirty people in line. She was the first one. There’s no telling what time she got there...and no telling how long she waited. Everytime I hear more of her story my heart is touched by it. I can’t relate. I would say most all of us can’t relate. But I do know this...she carries herself with so much grace. She is so grateful to be here. For life. For her family. For every day that she has.

She is almost 80 years old. She takes care of her daughter who is dying of cancer. She takes care of her daughter’s daughter who doesn’t have anyone else. She is doing everything she can to make it for the three of them.

Every Saturday morning she drives her car over to House of the Harvest and waits for the door to open. Every Saturday morning she greets everyone in the building with a smile. Never complains. Never upset. Never asks for anything more than what she is offered. But always there. Always smiling. Always quietly waving, hugging, and smiling.

Our runner puts her groceries in the car this morning and I turn my attention elsewhere. A few moments later someone touches my arm. I turn around...it was her. “Hey, what can I do for you?”

She humbly says, “Can you do me a favor?”

I reply, “Sure thing.”

She reaches into her pocket. “Can you put this into the money jar?”

“Please, keep your money,” I say back to her.

She insists. It’s her way of arguing. She’s too meek to argue. If I remember correctly, Jesus said something about the meek being blessed and inheriting the land.

She says, “Please take it. I put something in every Saturday. It makes me happy to be able to give for what y’all do for us.”

I can’t argue with that. I take the change. $2.27. “Thank you so much.”

Forget the $2.27. I am honored to be the recipient of that moment. Thank you, Lord, for people like her. I pray that I get to see her in the land she inherits.