The past few weeks I feel like God has been testing my faith in him. Though I can't recall it right now, I remember last week something happened and I wondered if God was testing me to see if I would pass or not. Needless to say, something happened again today and I wondered if that was God testing me again. Here's how it goes. Today was a cold, misty day outside. I was off work so I decided to run a bunch of errands that needed to be done. I went by the dry cleaner's to drop off Daniel's suit and his dress pants since he is working all day. After that I continued on to Wells Fargo, where I bank at. I remember getting so frustrated with the teller. I had brought in all my change that I had spent all morning rolling and put it in a ziplock bag. When I got up to the teller I gave her the bag and she said "Give me what you want to deposit." So, I pushed the bag closer to her and she replied with "I thought you would at least take it out the ziplock bag." Sure, it was something little but I thought she was a little rude with her reply. I apologized to her and took it out the bag.
As payday approaches this Thursday, I was looking forward to having a little extra cash to hold me over until then. With the holidays right around the corner, money was tight this pay period. As I'm leaving the bank, I see this woman, walking toward me in this cold, misty weather. She looked just like any other woman, besides being desperate. Being a little hesitate, I rolled my window down slightly. She preceded to tell me that her and her husband were trying to catch a train back to Washington to be with their family for the holidays. For whatever reason, they had missed the train today and needed just 27 more dollars to buy another train ticket. She wanted to know if I knew where she could work to make that money before tomorrow. I'm aware of all the scamming that goes on around this time but there was something that seemed sincere about her. Besides, she had walked all the way from highway 49 to Wells Fargo/Chicfila area on highway 98 in this weather; she must be sincere right? Well, I thought about the check I had just got cashed and how payday was only two days away. In that moment I handed her some money. She was more than thankful and offered to wash my car or whatever she could do to "earn" the money because she didn't want to just take it. I said told her she didn't need to do anything, that I could tell she needed the money more than I did anyway.
During the holidays, we get so caught up in presents and things such as that. However, there are things much more important in life. That woman, whether her story was true or not, was desperate for some money or else she would not have walked all that way in this cold, nasty weather. Though I questioned whether I did the right thing or not at first, I feel that was no doubt a test from God and I know I passed. I've always been told there's a reason for the season and this holiday season has undoubtedly put that into perspective for me. I can't take all the credit though, my parents have done an amazing job raising my sisters and I and have taught us to always do the right thing. I know in that moment, they would have all done the same thing as well. This holiday season, as with all of them, is about giving. What are you doing to help make a difference this season?
Until next time, it's just the two of us...
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