I watched a sweet couple at the register the other day pay for their groceries with what I believe must have been food stamps.
$8.00.
That's all they could spend. That was less than my 2 or 3 items would cost altogether, and they had bought 3 bags full of groceries. The cashier scanned the last item and quietly said to them, "This puts you over your limit." The wife's even quieter voice asked him to take that item off their bill. I guess they'd buy it next time.
I'd been struggling the past couple weeks to feel charity for people around me. The stinker who swerves in front of me in the crazy morning traffic, the customer who spoke unkindly to me for no reason at all, or even my family member who gets on my nerves after a long day. I just felt like I couldn't have the charity I'd had in the past, but as I looked in the eyes of the wife, I was swept up by a powerful compassion for this stranger. Tears started sneaking out of my eyeballs.
I smoothly blurted out, "Is there anything else you didn't get that you needed?" I didn't feel OBLIGATED to help them. I DESPERATELY WANTED TO. I felt like I would be missing out if I didn't have the privilege of helping them (funny how even then, I was still being selfish, I guess). The wife smiled and said they had enough.
The awkward silence ensued as the cashier then tried over and over again to get the check they'd given him to process. Again, the urge to help brought me to say, "Can I..." which was going to be followed by "just pay for everything for you?" but the cashier finally had success processing the check. And just like that, the couple was on their way.
What I was reminded of is how precious people are. Heavenly Father sees each person as His child, and He is ANXIOUS to help them. He doesn't see that couple with political eyes, saying they deserve the lifestyle they live in. He doesn't assume that they illegally crossed the border and are taking all our money. He doesn't consider them less than a single person on the planet. He values them separately from each other child.
