Many years ago when I was going downtown to the newspaper to place an ad, I saw an elderly woman standing in the bitter cold without a coat.  The key is I “saw” her.  I wondered where her coat was and who would allow her to be outside without one.  As I parked and went into the newspaper, I felt an inner nudge to give her my coat.  As I stood in line, I thought about if I gave her my coat, what would I wear?  I was in line for about 10 minutes and I could see her through the window.  By the time I got to the counter, I remembered that I did have another coat to wear and decided that I would give her my coat.  I paid for the ad, drew upon my courage and went outside to offer her my coat.  She was no where in sight!  I drove around looking for her and found no trace of her, like she had completely vanished!  I agonized for a little while over it because I wondered if God had placed her in my pathway to be her helper and I had “missed’ the opportunity to help.  I wondered if she would freeze because no one else might offer her warmth.  That experience stayed with me and bothered me for a long time.  I made up my mind that next time, I would act immediately to help.

Fast forward about 20 years.  I went on a much needed vacation and enroute, decided that I would stop at a dollar store and get a couple of writing tablets to journal in.  As I came off the exit and turned into the strip mall, I saw a lady standing beside a van, holding up a sign that said, “STRANDED, NEED HELP TO GET BACK TO MICHIGAN”.  I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the real reason I’d gotten off the exit was not because of writing tablets, but because I had a divine assignment…this woman.  I didn’t have cash, so I went to the service station and charged the gas and instructed the attendant to honor the receipt.  He pleaded with me not to do it because it might be a scam.  It didn’t matter.  I felt in my heart that I was dispatched to be a Good Samaritan to that woman.  Somewhere inside me, I felt like she was me.  Maybe not at the time when I bought the gas, but I remember the  former days in my life when I struggled and was challenged on every front and strangers – I call them angels- were placed in my pathway and they helped me. I felt it was my turn to give something back.  And I remember that lady who stood in the cold without a coat and never wanted to feel like I’d missed an opportunity to help another person, especially a woman in need.

What I didn’t realize was the ripple effect that one small act of kindness would have in my life.  That was the year 2004.  In 2008 I accidentally or providentially found the journal that I wrote the story about what had happened with the lady with the sign.  I shared it with a friend who shared it on his blog.  It was shared on Heartwarmers.com and I got several emails about it…whether to help or not to help…feeling inspired about the story.  It made me warm and fuzzy to know that it had touched someone, but I just saw it as helping the people that are on our pathway.  My belief is that God placed them there in the first place and if we “see” them, then we are in a position to make a difference, since we as people are the hands and instruments God uses for answered prayers. But the choice is entirely up to us to act.

Also in 2008, I said a prayer asking God for a sign to confirm that I was to move forward and take a leap of faith to write books and start my women’s ministry.  I’m normally not one for a sign, but I wanted to be sure because it would be a big step.  One month later, I received the answer.  I got an email from around the world, a young woman from the Philippines had found that story about the lady who was stranded, it led her to my website and she poured her heart out to me.  She told me she was so grateful to have found the website and how much the story and my inspirational writing had helped and encouraged her.  It began a two  year mentoring and friendship between us.

Who would have thought that just being a Good Samaritan and sharing the story  would connect me to someone from around the world.  Her email name was leap of faith.  We wrote each other for two years and I’m about to publish our book of letters entitled Leap of Faith.  Our story really began the day I stopped to help  the lady  that held the “stranded sign”.  That one act led to me walking away from life as I know it and starting over this year. (2011) It led to me writing my first (of many more to come) books.

When I finished the book, during Christmas, I realized that every woman holds a (sometimes invisible) sign up in her life.  It doesn’t have to necessarily be on a piece of cardboard, but we all have needs despite the human condition we find ourselves in at any given time.  As it has been said several times already, there but by the grace of God go I.   I’m grateful that I’ve learned to see those  invisible signs and make a difference.  In my heart, based on my experiences, I feel it is just as noble and kind  to help someone who is down on their luck, homeless or otherwise,  as it is to give our neighbor a cup of sugar.  If someone is on our pathway, maybe they’ve been put there for a purpose much larger than just what is obvious.  I also think that  sometimes they are put there to show us our own heart and point of view and maybe even that we have to take the equal look within.   I try to put myself in the other person’s shoes because we never know what hand life will deal to us and if it was me, I’d want someone to help and I’d trust that a Good Samaritan would come along.

The third and final situation was a letter that I wrote to my email readers a couple of Christmases ago, entitled “Help A Stranger This Christmas”.  I wrote a very eloquent article about helping the less fortunate at Christmas and what a boost it would be for them and for us.  Just days after writing it, I got tested on the very same message.  A woman was walking the parking lot, going from car to car asking for help.  At the time, my license plates had LIVE2GIVE on them.  She asked for $10 and I honestly didn’t have $10 in cash and my Mom and I went into the store.  I didn’t “see” this woman even though she was in front of me.  Quite frankly, I wasn’t sure whether her motives were honest or not.  But as soon as I stepped across the threshold, it hit me…I had just written an article saying help a stranger at Christmas, a stranger approached me and I kept on moving.  Immediately I realized I’d missed an opportunity to practice what I preached and I remembered some coins in my glove box.  I saw the woman and walked briskly to find her.  Once again, it was as if she vanished!  I couldln’t find her anywhere!  I chalked it up as a reminder to follow my heart, but also to live what I talk about.

Sometimes when we help strangers, we are entertaining angels unaware.

On a final note I remember thinking about the guy with the Golden Voice and how phenomenal  it was that he was discovered.  It was miraculous!  Who would think a person with a voice like that would be in dire straits?  As the newscasters interviewed him, they all went to the question of is it too much too soon, can you handle this, relapse, etc.  I saw it from a different point of view.  Although  I don’t think that a person “chooses” in reality to be homeless, I wondered how long they (newscasters) might be able to survive in a setting like that.  What fortitude and depth it must take to endure that everyday, day in and day out.  I think they possess a resourcefulness  and strength of heart that that we may never know because we’ve not been exposed to having to live at the edge of life.  That hand has not been dealt to us.  I do know that I gained a profound and deeper respect for people down on their luck after going through three years of a very tough transition from where money flowed like a river to where there was a drought in the land, at least in my world.  When life changes, how we view it changes.

Thanks for sharing your lessons and creating a dialogue about what we can learn from one another.  I think our lessons come from where we stand in time at the moment we experience things and from our life view. We just never know the bigger impact of one small act…be it $1 or $20.  And you never know when God is using you to be the answer to someone’s heartfelt prayer.  It may not have been by accident that she came across your pathway and you never know the ripple effect from your generosity.  I’m glad you followed your heart.

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Pikim, excuse me …I had to comeback and address your” sadness,”

I hope you are feeling better, and the best way to get rid of sadness is to began to count your blessing , name then one by one count your many blessings see what GOD  has done….(smile) even as little kids we had the answers to our problems.  I just remembered this one while writing it was a song we sang…and it still works.

Just remember without some saddness ..we would not know JOY

Love Peace Wealth And Health

A Fayette

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When ever we are going through some ahrd times or just sad times, we need to ask ourselves….

what lesson is in this for me?”

It may be  painful or just uncomfortable….there is a lesson, and once we see it we have given ourselves more strength to move and enjoy the sun.

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