Healing for Perfect Strangers!

"Blessed be the Lord: for he hath showed me His marvelous kindness..." Pslams 31:21

On the outside.. I've been told I look hard to approach.. even intimidating.. on the inside, however not so much!  I've always been sensitive, my feelings hurt easily.  Things that might not bother a lot of people could make me cry, and often spoil the day: Someone yells at me, a fellow driver on the road is rude, my husband scolds; a neighbor or friend or even my own child says something cutting....etc.

I've learned however..as stung as I may be.. not to take it out on someone else.  I've found the best way to get over an unexpected hurt is to try to cancel it by comforting somebody else.

Life is usually prompt in giving me the chance to do this.  Yesterday, still seething and suffering from a sharp remark from one of my kids, I was standing in line at the store and behind me was a shabby man staring fixedly towards the ground. I could tell by his sniffling he was struggling not to cry.

I watched him, as he fumbled to find his handkerchief, and found myself saying, "I'm so sorry. Is there anything I can do to help you?" "No, thanks, ma'am," he said, producing a picture from his worn wallet.  It was of a pretty little girl. "We lost her yesterday," he continued, eager to talk about it. "I'm on my way now to pick out flowers."

After I finished my transaction with the cashier, I waited until he had finished his so we could walk out of the store together.  We ended up standing in the entry way of the store and he shared his pride in her, and his great loss. 

We touched upon the mystery of being born at all, of being parents, of the brevity and beauty of life upon this earth, and the joy of sharing it with someone we loved, even for a little while.  We spoke of the wonderful comfort of faith and the promises of Jesus. How He directed and bade the children to come unto Him, for theirs "is the kingdom of God..." (Mark 10:14).

When we parted, I knew the man's heart was lighter.  He was actually smiling.  "This has meant a lot to me ma'am. I'm going to tell my wife the things we said." "You helped me feel better, too," I told him.  It was as if some vital balance had been struck between that which is hurtful and that which is healing.

My day was no longer spoiled, and his had been brightened... and itsn't that what really counts?  The good, the kind, the encouraging things we do for one another can equal and even surpass the pain we all inflict sometimes, and sometimes suffer.

I prayed in the car on my way home, asking the Lord to give me the strength to heal hurt feelings, and to guard me against hurting anyone else.. and I thanked him for showing me His kindness through the man at the store.  I love seeing Jesus unexpectedly in people!

I never got the man's name, and he never got mine.  I'll remember him always though, and I have a feeling we'll see each other again...maybe not in this world but certainly when we go home to be with our Father in Heaven.