Hope

(I posted this sometime in 2011. Then I accidently deleated it but recently found a rough draft tucked inside a file with no title.  As I read, the memory of the day in Wal-mart came back to me instantly.  Tears once again filled my eyes as I remembered  the sobs of this woman, how they shook me clear to my soul.  The bible says in Proverbs, Hope deferred makes the heart sick, meaning I think depressed, lose of hope.  Our God  is a God of hope and delights in using us weak and frail vessels to bring hope to others. There are so many out there needing a hug or kind words and prayer.  God help me to not pass them by. )


I only stopped for a few things and  apples were not even on my list. Trying to decide whether to purchase green or red ones I couldn’t help but notice the frail woman trying to get those impossible thin plastic bags open to put her apples in.  She was dropping as many as she was putting  in.  Her hands were shaking and she was muttering to herself words I could not understand but it was clear she was troubled

 

My heart went out to her since I have a mother her age and I am fastly approaching older.   I stepped up and offered to help, then I see her tears. As I bagged her apples words begin to pour from this small slightly bent woman.

She said, I cannot drive myself anymore so my husband has to take me everywhere and he is not patient.  He was waiting for her in the car and she was worried he would be upset for it was taking her longer then usual. 

He had cancer and her  health was failing fast under the strain of the stress. To make it worst she said, he does not care about my health issues.  

Nobody understands she said, with huge tears continuing to fall.  By then I had my arms around her trying to hold her shaking body together.
 

This verse came to me as I listened to her sob and lamenting out of  a broken heart.   Matthew 14:27 Take courage , it is I, do not be afraid.

I took ahold of  courage and ask her if I could pray for her, right there in the apples, still trembling she said, yes.   I prayed for God to ease her anxiety, calm her, soften her husband, for their health issues and the God who loved her would become real to her.     

Tears was  streaming down both our faces as we hug for a long time.   She thanked me several times and before I could talk more she said, I must go, he is waiting for me.  Walking away she turned back to say  thank you one last time.

 All it took was a few minutes and God reached down from heaven and poured hope into a frail, distraut woman standing in the middle of the apples in Wal-Mart.  

"The feeling of hopefulness sometimes comes from someone helping us. Think back to a time when you had lost hope. Many times we regained our optimism because someone gave us a helping hand." Catherine Pulsifer, from Poem for Hope

I may never see this woman again but I am so glad God placed her in my life that day to remind me to reach beyond my world.   

       Can you recall a time when someone reached beyond their world to your
                 hurting world with a hug, a kind word, a word of prayer?    

This post is link to "Tell Me A Story"
 "http://letmetelluastory.blogspot.com/"