ACE #412: It Could Have Been Me...

Yesterday, I was sitting in my car at a traffic light.  There was a woman standing by the entrance of the shopping center with a sign.  I wasn't close enough to read her sign, but I was certain it said something like, "Need money for food."  After all, this is a daily occurrence in most communities, right?  Normally, someone will stick their hand out of the window and hand over a few dollars.  My husband does this all the time.  I am much more cautious, especially when our daughter is in the car with me.  I feel kind of guilty sometimes when I don't stop because, after all, it could have been me out there in the cold or on the streets.  I was broker than a joke in graduate school.  Still...somehow, God showed me provision through other people and often through a sheer miracle. (Truth be told...most of us are one paycheck away from being...well, without).

As the traffic light turned, I saw something that I had never seen before. Instead of reaching out and giving the woman with the sign some money, the driver handed over a pair of gloves.  The woman with the sign immediately sat down and put the gloves on her hands with great relief.  Some might ask, why didn't the driver just give the woman money?  Well, as I see it, the driver gave what s/he had and was responding to a need.  There was a widow in the Bible that did the same.

It is my prayer, that during this holiday season that people will see the needs of others and endeavor to give what they have.  I am always mindful, it could have been me...

Mark 12:41-44

The Widow’s Offering

⁴¹ Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. ⁴² But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.
⁴³ Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. ⁴⁴ They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”