February 24, 2010

• Generosity that goes on and on and on

  I have yet to find a perfect game plan for grocery shopping with a baby who is not yet able to sit without tottering.  Previously, I put my groceries at the bottom of her stroller, but there's a weight limit for that; and now that she has gained a lot more weight, there is a lot less I can put down there.  Shopping carts weren't really designed for car seats to be put on top, and I tend to be the overly cautious type when it comes to safety, so that option is out for me.  And I do have a baby carrier (mei tai), but I don't always want to take the time to put it on (granted, it's really not that long, but still).  I want it to be bam, bam, bam -- go in, get out, done, done, done -- but it seriously takes forever long with a baby.

  Anyway, today I went to the market to buy some rice. Obviously, I can't put the big bag of rice in my stroller (certainly, it would exceed weight limit), and I didn't want to bother with the mei tai, especially if I was going to leave empty-handed (the store might not have my brand of rice), so I decided to carry her into the store.  This turned out to be a poorly thought plan since I ended up having to hold her with one hand and pushing the shopping cart with the other.  It wasn't all bad though -- not as bad as the time I had to push the stroller with one hand and a shopping cart with the other.  In the end, I did manage to get to my car, park the shopping cart next to my trunk and put my baby down in her car seat.  With that accomplished, I went back to the shopping cart and sighed a big sigh as I thought about having to heave the rice bag into my trunk.  At this point, I noticed that there was a man walking toward me. 

  When he got to me, he asked, "Need some help?" 
  Gratefully, I said, "Yes." 
  He got the rice and put it in my trunk in a cinch. 
  Then he said, "Can you help me?  I need some money." 
  At this point, I was thinking, "OH."  I hesitated for a second,
  and so he said, "I need some bus money." 
  "How much?" I said. 
  "$2.25." 
  I went to get my wallet in my backseat and gave him all the money I had in my wallet -- which was $5. 

  He helped me, and so it was my turn to help him.  I'm not exactly sure whether he really used the money for bus fare, cigs or alcohol, but it's always been my conviction that it's not up to me.  In the last days, what will matter to me is how God will be judging me, not how he will be judging the other person.  Did I act justly?  humbly?  mercifully? 

  Five dollars probably doesn't seem like a lot of money to you, and in the scheme of things, it's not a lot of money in general.  But to be honest, it really is a lot of money to me, because I am the kind of person who comparison shops, and I will drive the extra mile to save two bucks.  Obedience is no small thing.  But I came home tonight and happen to come across Psalm 112 in the Message.  I am eager to be this blessed person whose "generosity goes on, and on, and on", because that's exactly what God is like.   
  

  • 11:38 pm
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