Wal-Mart

Today I made a trip to the local Wal-Mart. I had a list which I almost always do in order to make the most of my time. So I was going at a pretty quick clip through wally other than a delay in fabrics (my greatest weakness). It was 1pm and I had to be at work at 2:30 so I wasn't dilly dallying. I paid for my purchases and grabbed my bags and headed for the exit. As I was walking by customer service I made eye contact with this little old lady sitting on a bench next to a bunch of other people. She locked eyes with me and started talking,but I couldn't hear her so I got closer. She asked if I could take her home, which was maybe 6 or 8 blocks away. Initially in my mind I was like "Say no. scary...walk away. She could be a freak killer or something". All sorts of awful things passed through my mind. But I found myself saying "sure". So she handed me one of her bags and instructed me to lead and she'd follow me to my car. So there we went me with my bags and her trailing behind with her two wheeled cart full of bags. She was a tiny thing,hunched over and all bundled up in a coat. Her face was too big for her body it seemed. I found out her name was Shirley and she usually walked everywhere she went. She started to loosen up a little once in the car. I wondered if it had taken her very long to work up the courage to ask someone for a ride or if she did that frequently. She asked me if I was in college and I told her that I wasn't but I was a secretary at Mercy. I asked her if she went to church anywhere. She said she used to, but that it was hard to get a ride anymore. She pointed to a United Methodist church we passed and told me about their upcoming rummage sale which she planned to go to and get a few things. I told her about my church and mentioned her coming sometime. She mentioned that there was a synagogue not too far from there. We discovered that we had a couple of mutual aquaintances that attended there. small world. we pulled up to her house. It was a small pink house with stone on the front. It looked kind of unkempt, but I expected as much. I helped roll her cart up to her door and she told me she could take it from there. She told me I was a nice lady and thanks. I said I might see her around. As I left I was overwhelmed by the whole encounter and cried. I realized how selfish I am, and I thanked God for giving me the opportunity to see into Shirley's world just for those few moments. To see the loneliness and difficulty that she faces everday. It made me promise myself that I would not be ruled by my own agenda and time constraints, by my own fears and judgemental thoughts, but that I would gladly allow God to interrupt my "plans" and to teach me about the love that He has for everyday people like Shirley. And don't worry, Shirley's not getting off that easy...I know where she lives. I hope that this is the beginning of a newfound friendship.