Helping Others Open Doors for Fresh Ideas and Experiences

On Monday

I was driving up to the gym when I noticed an elderly gentleman with a white beard and glasses walking on the side of the road beside the sidewalk. Temperatures were still frigid here in Atlanta and the snow had only began to melt. As I approached him I thought to myself “I should pick him up. It was too cold out here to be walking and I have room in my car to take him.” Passing by him I started to talk myself out of it. “No Nathan. What if he doesn’t want a ride. Don’t disturb him.” In the midst of internal dialogue I looked into my rearview mirror and thought I saw the old man’s hand raise toward my car. I went about 500 feet and swirled around. “I have to at least try. The worst he can say is no thank you.” Full anticipating his rejection of my offer, I prepped myself for his reply. I rolled up beside him and pulled down my window. “Sir do you need a ride?” He looked at me for a moment as if to understand what I was saying and then he said “Yes, please thank you.” I didn’t comprehend what he was saying at first. The old man was Indian and had a thick accent. A few seconds later I put together what he was saying. Once he got in, I turned on my heat a little higher as well as the heated seats. “The bus no come. I don’t know why.” Again, it took me a few moments to understand what he was saying and then I asked him where he was going. “I am employee of Farmer’s Market. Can you take me?” I’m sure I answered in the affirmative but at the same time I went into deep thought about the fact that this 60+ year old man was about to walk about an hour nearly 3 miles in both directions if needed to get to work. Who knows how long he waited in the cold for the bus to come only to realize that it wasn’t coming. Granted the roads were still icy in some areas and the bus stop he was waiting at was on a hill so it was harder to get up. Instead of complaining or calling in to his job to let them know he was not going to make it in today. He chose to walk. I had an idea of where the Farmer’s Market before. I had been there only once with a family friend from Russia.

We rode most of the way in silence until I broke the stillness and introduced myself as Nathan. He replied with his name, I only caught that it started with an “H”. Upon pulling up to the door of the market, he said to me again “I am employee here.” I nodded my head in understanding and then he asked me what I did for work. I shared with him what I do and then he thanked me again, palms together like he was about to pray and then bowed slightly forward a couple times before saying thank you again. I communicated that it was my pleasure and he got out and disappeared into the store. I was flooded with emotion, mostly the remarkable encounter of God’s provision for this elderly worker through the resources God had given me stewardship over. I was so distracted that I almost him another middle aged European American man as I began to pull off. I rolled down my window and immediately apologized letting him know I didn’t see him walking in front of my car. Turning out to go to the my original destination, I cruised down the parking lot and then stopped. I took a moment to think. I had only been to this Famer’’s Market once and couldn’t remember for the life of me what it looked like inside. So I decided to take a longer detour, parked the car, and walked inside.

It was like another world opened up to me! People of all cultures were sauntering around looking for their desired products and produce. The whole store smelled like fish and that was because the back section of the store housed their fresh fish department. I was entranced! Aisles for South American cuisine, an aisle for German food, Scandinavian food, Asian food, Turkish sections, Brazilian, they had it all it seemed. I was like a kid in a candy shop. Large bags of rice from various parts of the world, one was called: “The Three Ladies.” And then there was a section with these large pots and pans, not your typical pans, these were large bowl like pans for the indigenous cultures I had traveled to for missions so many years ago. For about 15 minutes, I felt like I booked a first class ticket to the market in South East Asia and then Central America, and finally to North Africa. It was sublime. I strolled around for about an hour walking up and down the aisles captivated by the diversity, not just of the products, but of the people. Customers shopped here probably because the prices were lower since there is no retail middle man (farmers markets buy direct), and to find their cultural comforts that you wouldn’t be able to find in the international section at Kroger or Publix. Deliriously happy and full, I left and thought to myself “what an encounter and all because God presented the opportunity to share some of His resources with an old Indian man!”

Helping others opens the door for us to be God’s vessel for good and exposes us to new and fresh experiences that we otherwise would not have. What opportunities are waiting for you this week to help someone? I pray you jump at the opportunity to give out the goodness of God! Just remember not to jump on the person you are helping out of excitement (or jump on them if that is what the Holy Spirit tells you to do!).

Boldness and Faith,

Nathan