Broken Down Cars, Dogs Almost Ran Over, And Stop Thinking Someone Else Will- You’re The Someone Else. And People Are Watching

January 27, 2012 in Fridays,In My Shoes,Life,Stories with 4 Comments

I had just dropped off my girls at school.
It’s my day off.
All I was thinking was, “My bed is waiting! Ahhhhhhhh!”
I turned the corner, and…
Traffic. At. A. Stand. Still.
Ugh.
Don’t these people know my day off is freakin’ important?!
Then I saw it.
A broken down car with the lights blinking.
People flying by her. Not stopping to help.
Honestly, I debated it in my head.
“Help this person out, or maybe someone else will.”
“Wait, I am not that guy. Quit being a selfish bastard jerk.” (my inner dialogue censors itself sometimes)
So, I pulled around. Ran out and asked her to steer her car into the church nearby.
“Aw honey child! Bless your heart. All these people keep driving by. You’re an angel sent by God.”
Her wrinkles across her face read like a novel.
She’d been through some things in life. You could tell it from simply a glance.
Too bad nobody seemed to care enough to stop & help. They were missing an interaction beyond words.
During that time, exactly 41 cars drove past me pushing in the rain.
More drove by before I got out to help.
She thanked me, but I did it because it’s what I’m supposed to do.
“Baby, you’re so sweet. I was praying God would send an angel. I just didn’t know he’d send one with colorful tattoos and those lovely big earrings. You’re precious.”
(Insert awkward moment where I’m dumbfounded as to what to say)
“Ma’am, my dad always taught me to love people, and so that’s what I try and do.”
“You mean both dad’s right? Child you must know Jesus if you’ll get out in the rain for this old lady.”
“Well, ma’am, I’m actually a pastor.”
“Whew, looking like that?! Lord bless you. We need more ministers who don’t care about fancy suits. Bless your heart.”

What just happend?!
No clue this interaction was going to go on like this.
Norma and I talked in the rain for about 15-20 minutes until her son came and picked her up.
My heart (while torn at first), decided to do what’s right instead of being selfish.
I came home, laid down for a bit, and woke up to this Facebook message:

When you want to say no – quit being selfish.
When you’ve got some where to be – it can wait.
When you think the world revolves around you – it doesn’t.
When you think someone else will help – you are the someone.
When you think no one is watching – they are. intently.
When you help someone thinking they’ll learn a lesson in love – you’re the one who gets schooled in love.

Norma, you’re a saint. You rocked my world with God’s love/truth today.
I’m glad your car was broke down so God could use you to break me down in the process.

- Jason

  • Kellioran

    Very cool. Warms the heart. :)

  • Deanna

    Awesome story Jason.  Amazing how God works.  :)

  • leslie seaman

    A story came to mind from my Psych class last year. ..At least I think it was my psych class.. I can’t remember.. but here it goes…it could have even been from church..but it is worth sharing again either way…

    There was a study being done on bible college students. They were given a paper to write..I assume a sermon. All the kids were working very hard, and were very stressed about getting it done. On the day they had to turn it in, they all had to cross a large courtyard. There was a woman crying in the center of the courtyard, very obviously needing someone to talk to. Every single person headed to give their presentation that day passed right by her. When the lady asked a few of them for help, they stated that they had somewhere very important to be, now wasn’t a good time. Some of them looked, some pretended not to look.. you know how that goes. They all get to the room where the presentations are to be held and not one of them had stopped to see if they could help this lady. The lady had been acting, and was in fact, a test. All of them passed her up because they had very important classwork to turn in. When the students saw her in the class later, and it was revealed what the real deal was, many were ashamed.

    I heard that story and it really opened my eyes.. Is turning in a paper so important that someone else can be pushed to the wayside? I think that if one student had stopped to help, the teacher would have excused the student for doing God’s work before presenting God’s Word.  Your story just reminded me of this.

    -Leslie

    • http://twitter.com/brandedwithlove Jason Bedell

      That’s cool Leslie. Yeah I remember sharing this story in a sermon years ago. The study was a very good eye opener into how people respond to others in need.