Alright – something strange happened the other day. I was at Lowes with Miranda and we were buying wood so I could build some end tables and a coffee table. Anyway, we got everything we needed – by the way – Lowes is cool! – anything you could ever need – I even found an orange cone so I could put them up around the area where I was working – How cool is that? OK – so I steered our little buggy palette to the car and started loading the car. Uh oh! You guessed it. A 4X8 sheet of plywood won’t fit in an Explorer. I thought it would ’cause we had put a 4X4 in the previous week. So now I’m in trouble and Miranda is getting embarrassed as people watched and laughed at us when they went into the store. Then, out of nowhere this man just kind of appears behind me and asks, “Where do you live?” As I turn around to look at him, I kinda mumble something, I’m not sure what I said.
Then he says, “You live in Lake Jackson?”
I say, “Yes!”
and he says “Here, take my truck.” and hands me his keys.
A TOTAL STRANGER HANDS ME HIS KEYS! – never even asked my name.
I try to talk him into coming with us, but he says he trusts us, and insists on giving us his keys. I decided it was the only way we were getting that stuff home and Miranda doesn’t need to be embarrassed anymore, and take his keys. I tell him my name and that I work in a church and then he says he’s a Pastor of another church. We take his truck with his little wennie dog “Katie” to our house and then bring it back to Lowes and give him his keys back. End of story. . . . .
Now here’s my take on it. We were studying John 4 the next day with the youth. That’s where Jesus talks with the Samaritan woman at the well. Jesus broke down all kinds of stereotypes and laws when he spoke to her. Jewish men didn’t speak to women in public, they didn’t speak to Samaritans, and they didn’t speak to “ungodly” people (remember she had had like 5 husbands) Anyway, Jesus crossed all these lines just to give her a better life.
This man (“Alfredo” was his name) broke the unwritten law of not trusting strangers to make our lives better. He even trusted us with his dog.
“Alfredo” – wherever you are today. You should know, you were Jesus to me that day! Thanks! God bless you!