No Good Deed

 

No Good Deed...

It was 86 degrees and I knew it  was my turn to once again stand by my decision that we don’t need a 1:1 car ratio in our household.

George had my car in Illinois.  Alex had his truck in Delaware.  Ella needed her car to go to an appointment in South Bend.  

I knew there were literally dozens of people I could call who would happily help out, but I WANTED to do this myself.

So I ate a solid lunch, filled up my water bottle, charged my phone AND earbuds (a huge feat for me) and set out on my bike.  

It was  actually a pleasant ride, with only one detour, and I arrived in only 37 minutes.  

I found some shade, had a cool drink - being sure not to gulp the icy water too quickly as my stomach doesn’t like that- and read a book while I waited for my appointment time.  

Out of nowhere I felt a sprinkle on my arm.  

Looking up, the sky was mostly blue with a light cloud on the horizon so I returned to my book.

And then, in a matter of seconds, the whole sky turned dark and the heavens unleashed their power.  

Torrents of rain came crashing down, and I grabbed my bike and ran for the office.  I quickly discovered that the building was locked- lunch hour- and huddled under the eaves.  

I smelled the richness of the parched earth welcoming the abundant moisture and saw the parking lots quickly overflow.  I put my hand out to feel the warm rain and had a bit of longing from the child inside to run and splash and dance in the rain.

But I also had an appointment soon.  So I restrained myself, and waited.

When I was sure it couldn’t rain harder, the intensity increased even more just as a shape came towards me out of the storm. A woman with a stroller was racing up the sidewalk. I peered inside and saw an obviously very newborn baby with rain on his face and a very wet momma with tears running down her cheeks.  

This poor lady, full of hormones and certainly sleep deprived, had come for her baby’s first checkup and upon exiting the office couldn’t figure out how to release the car seat from her stroller.  

I instantly flashed back to when I took my own firstborn to the store for the first time and upon leaving panicked when I couldn’t figure out how to release his car seat from the grocery cart.  I distinctly remembered the terror I felt and the overwhelming desire to free and protect my child.

I now saw those same emotions on this woman’s face.

We got the stroller working and as she lifted the baby into the car and tried to figure out the car seat, I leaned over her literally sheltering her from the rain with my body and guided her with directions. 

She then climbed into her car and backed out, just as I realized I had dropped an AirPod while leaning over her.  I had forgotten I even had them in during all of the ruckus. 

Seeing that I was looking for something, she quickly got out and retrieved it and hugged me again, saying I was her angel. 

As she drove away, I looked down at the AirPod (a gift from my children for Christmas) and discovered a crack along the side and an abnormally flat shape.  The van tire had backed over it. My first thought was “no good deed goes unpunished”. 

But then, as I stood in the ongoing deluge with water streaming down my face, all I could do was smile. 

On a day I had been praying and asking the Lord to give me the strength- he had shown that strength by allowing me to help others, and He had done so in a glorious fashion.

I got to be someone’s angel, even if it was in a tiny way.  

Have you ever thought about how the scripture that says when we are in the service of our fellowman we are in the service of our God is also true for the little things? 

I got to be an angel in the rain for Jesus! 

The office door clicked open and the receptionist eyed me up and down as I dripped in her foyer, and then, having witnessed the interaction through the window asked me what I had been looking for.  I showed her my broken iPod and shrugged saying I was glad I could help.

A few minutes later, still as wet as if I had jumped into a swimming pool, I sat in the waiting area when she approached and handed me a gift card.  “Thanks for being a helper.”

Isn’t it interesting that the Lord answered my prayer for strength by having me help another?

What a wonderful God we truly have!!