The tattoo on my forehead…
I’ve always jokingly said that I have a tattoo on my forehead that says something like “Please tell me all your problems” or “Ask me for help, especially if you are homeless or hungry”. Yes, I’m one of “those” people, some just call me gullible or soft. I don’t know, sometimes I think they’re right, but then something will happen that proves to me they aren’t. I won’t lie, many days my tattoo feels like some kind of curse, but every once in a while I’m reminded that it’s a blessing.
So, what happened to spur this post? Well, Dad and I were leaving Borders bookstore tonight at a little after 10pm when we were approached by a woman asking for help in getting food for her family. This happens to me all the time, but fortunately, having worked at a homeless ministry for many years, I now somewhat know how to handle it. First of all, I no longer give people money if I have any other choice. If people are asking for food and they really need food, they will take you up on your offer to get them food. If they come up with an excuse for why they only need money, then I take it that they are really not telling me the truth. I want to help people, but I don’t want to support alcohol or drug habits, so that’s why I don’t give money. So, I told this lady that I didn’t have any cash, but we were just across the parking lot from a Food City, so we would take her up there and get her some groceries. Her only concern was that she had to catch a bus in 30 minutes. No problem, get in the car and we’ll drive you to the store and the bus stop. So, that’s what we did. She had 2 teenage boys at home, so we picked up some milk, bread, hamburger meat, eggs, cereal, and chips. Since they were riding the bus, they couldn’t carry too much, but fortunately they will be able to receive assistance for food in about 3-5 days, so hopefully this will tide them over. Plus, we were able to get her a free bus pass through Food City’s Shop and Ride program.
Her husband is disabled and although he receives disability pay, that goes to pay the rent. She normally works but isn’t right now because of back problems for which she is going to the doctor for tomorrow. How much of this is completely true? I don’t know, but I figure I don’t have to know. She was willing to ask for help for her family from total strangers in West Knoxville (not the friendliest of places at times) and she was willing to take the help that we were able to provide. Before she approached us at Borders she had approached someone at Texas Roadhouse for help and they had the police called.
We dropped her off at the bus stop where her husband was waiting and worried. He didn’t know where she had gone and was worried about her. However, he was so relieved to see her get out of our car with bags of groceries. You could tell that they were truly in need and genuinely appreciative of the help. I just hope it was enough.
I’m glad that God placed Vickie in our path tonight. It reminded me of how very blessed I am. I needed that. It also reminded me that we all need to come together to help each other. Isn’t that what the body is supposed to do? Maybe I’ll remember to look outside my own little world more often. I hope that my “tattoo” never stops working and that I always respond appropriately to the challenges it brings me.