Confidence, Optimism, and Gratitude

I don't know why, but I am always amazed by the creativity that God uses to teach me life lessons.

Last week at the thrift store, on a busy afternoon, while I was doing a spectacular job of unsuccessfully managing 3 crises at the same time, a volunteer alerted me to a situation in the front of the store. I went to investigate. A young couple had been experiencing car trouble on their way to a prospective job in southern Florida. They were stranded with no money to purchase the auto part needed to fix their car and continue on their trip.

I assigned the man the job of modeling a recliner that we had for sale in the store, and took the lady with me to go and purchase the auto part. It was not far away, and traffic was unusually light. And this is how my lesson began.

I am always impressed at the amount of information one will divulge given very little prompting. I soon learned of their financial struggles, family relationships, chronic medical conditions, failed marriages, times of drug use, and now years of sobriety. What impressed me the most was how she told me that God had been with her through every bit of this. The level of confidence in her relationship with God was awesome. God was with her always, through thick and thin. And she had a level of optimism about her future life events that was amazing. She said that she and God had come through all this together, and she was excited about where they would go next. God had great things in store for her just around the corner.

After purchasing the part, we returned to the store to pick up her partner, and then go to their car, which had been left in a local parking lot. They both were very appreciative of the help. After leaving them to fix their car, I returned back to the store to see what trouble could cause there. That I am good at doing. Later in the afternoon, the lady came back into the store. They had driven their car back to say thank you. She had tears in her eyes, as she thanked me for doing something that I did not need to do. She then gave me a gift, which she stated had sentimental value to her. I told her that was not necessary. She corrected me, saying that she accepted my gift, and now had this gift from her to me. I said thank you. And for a brief moment was speechless.

I had spent a small amount of time with this person, and yet I felt that I had learned volumes. I learned about having confidence in a relationship with God who never leaves me, about being optimistic about my future life events with God, and about being grateful for what God provides me along the way.

And all this from a very unassuming lady who had car trouble. Awsome.