So, I met “Brenda” during one Saturday last summer at a
Target shopping center in Huntsville. I
was putting some Petco goods in my trunk when she approached me. She said to please not think that she was a
crazy person, but that she was in a real bad bind and needed some help. She went on to tell me that she had several
children and her husband had just up and left and abandoned them and she was
out of food and needed help – the churches were closed until tomorrow (as it
was a Saturday) and she didn’t know how she was going to feed her kids supper
this nite, but she was going to get help from a church tomorrow. Well, I am real skeptical and leery to talk
to people who approach me like this, but her story was quite touching and I had
just put about $80 worth of pet food in my trunk and this lady is begging for
food to feed her hungry children. I was
still a bit skeptical (we may need to come back to this instinctive response
later – ha!) and did not give her any money/food at this time. Instead, I gave her a recruiting package for
my home-based business and told her it could be a tool to support her and her
family and that she could host her own part to get started and she took the
info and said she’d look into it. I
asked for her name and number so that I could check back in with her to be sure
she had found the help she needed and was ok and she wrote the info down on the
back of my Petco receipt. She wrote the name Brenda and a phone number
down. I didn’t figure it would be a good
number. That was it and we parted
ways. It still bothered me that I had
just spent $80 on pet food and didn’t give her money to feed her kids with, but
she was approaching someone else as I was walking off to my next stop…..so I
figured she’d sucker someone sooner or later….
My next stop was to the LifeWay Christian bookstore. I had been meaning to go buy some tracts to
keep handy in my car and in my purse – for situations like this one I had just
been in so that I could hand them out and hopefully help spread the news of salvation….to
just one lost soul perhaps….
As I was making my way to the bookstore I said a prayer that
said basically, if “Brenda” truly needs my help, then put her back in my path at
this shopping center today and I will help her.
So after I purchased my new tracts, I placed the bag in my
car along with my other bookstore purchases and headed on along to Target. I wasn’t grocery shopping this day though, so
I was just running in to get something specific and then I’d be done and ready
to leave this shopping center.
As I was checking out at Target I notice “Brenda” and a lady
with a small child checking out in a lane down the way. The lady was buying “Brenda” some
groceries. So, as I walked past their
check-out, I called out to Brenda and handed her a $20 since she had crossed my
path again and I felt it was a sign to go ahead and help her. Her eyes teared up and she gave me the
biggest hug and said this other lady had bought her these groceries and they
would be just fine tonite and she seemed so happy and relieved :)
I was aggravated that I had left the tracts in the car and
didn’t have one to give to her with the money though :/
I never did try that number she wrote down nor did “Brenda”
ever call me.
So, several months later on into fall/winter sometime I was
at the Costco shopping center picking up a print job from Staples and as I was walking
to my car with my print job I notice a lady in the dark parking lot and she
starts approaching me and right away I realize it is “Brenda”! This is across town from where I had first
met her, so I was very intrigued to see what she was going to have to say this
day. She walks up and says please don’t
be scared of me I’m just needing some help and went on to tell a similar story
to the first one only this time she needed money for an airplane ticket to get
to her dad’s house and all would be fine – she still had the several children
in her new story. I replied to her, “Brenda”
is it? She said, no, my name’s not “Brenda”! I said well, “Brenda”, if you’ll recall we
met back this summer over at the Target shopping center and a lady bought you
some groceries and I gave you a $20, but you had a different story that
day. She bowed up at me and told me she
was sorry I thought that I had met her before, but her name was not “Brenda”. She went on her way and I got into my
car. I then got so upset with
myself! I STILL had not managed to get a
tract in her possession :( How
terrible! I felt horrible, so I called
my dad and told him that I’ve had two opportunities to try to minister to this
lady and both times I let my opportunity go away and I was so upset with
myself. I had been praying for God to
use me to help Him reach out to someone and I had repeatedly not reached out
with His good word to “Brenda” – how frustrated
I was with myself over that. The
best help she will ever find she still may not even know about. Dad just told me not to worry that I’d see
her again one day. Wonder if he could be
right about that??? I guess time will
tell…….
I have been meaning to/supposed to blog about this and share
it with you for some time now and finally getting around to it.
Hopefully, to be continued…….
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