What a day for a duck hunt! Up early and the pot is brewing a hot cup of Door County Maple Coffee for me. I have looked forward to this week for a long time.
Luke 10:25-37New King James Version (NKJV)
The Parable of the Good Samaritan
25 And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?”
27 So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’[a] and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’”[b]
28 And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.”
29 But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 On the next day, when he departed,[c] he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’ 36 So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?”
37 And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.”
Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
Last night while driving home I was looking up ahead and saw that most of the cars were lighting up their brakes like a cheap Christmas tree. I started applying my brakes early enough so that I would not be a hazard to anyone ahead. I looked in my rear view mirror and what I saw had me more than nervous. A car was coming up on the back of my Jeep and was not slowing down. By this time I was at a complete stop with about four car spaces between me and the car in front of me.
The other driver must have realized that she needed to apply the brakes and in a hurry. I could see the smoke rising from the pavement as she skidded closer. I decided to move forward and take advantage of the extra space in front of me. It was just enough to avoid the impending crash. I pulled over anyway and so did she. I assumed the worst like "was she applying make up and driving, changing radio stations, looking up a sale at Walmart on her phone"??? She apologized for her almost huge mistake. I could see that her shirt was wet with tears. She said she had been crying while driving. The young lady was running late to pick up her baby from day care. The lateness would cause her to pay another $40.00 for the week and she was struggling as it was already. The baby's father had just left them both high and dry. Another driver thought we actually hit and she pulled over to see if we were OK. She heard the story and reached into her purse and pulled out a $100 bill and gave it to the younger lady and said " Been there myself. Slow down. This will cover the extra day care. Stop at McDonald's and eat or wherever you would like and hug your baby."
She thanked me for not having road rage and offered to pray with both of us. I accepted the gift of prayer and wanted to get in on the nice action. I had been given many potatoes as a gift. I had ten pounds with me and I gave them to our young race driver Momma. Unfortunately she started to cry again, but was under control when we watched her pull into traffic. I turned to say thank you to our Good Samaritan and she too was driving away. I stood there a moment and wondered about all that had just happened. I saw people at their best. A mom who was working hard and all she had on her mind was taking care of her baby. A lady who cared enough to stop. A guy who gave potatoes out of the goodness of his heart and allows me to gift people with them. I guess it was a day that gets an A+ for a grade.
God bless,
Marty
i Love it!! Paying it forward brother!!
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