This weekend (August 9, 2008) I had an experience that reminded me that sometimes I need to stop focusing on me. I was leaving my apartment to go to Walgreens to pick up a photo. As I'm walking down the steps, my right foot slips and I am slipping down the steps, but I don't fall. I am basically holding onto the rails for dear life. I'm shocked, a little nervous, but ok, despite the fact that the kids in the hallway are trying not to laugh at me. I tell them to go ahead and laugh, cause I had laugh at myself as well.
As I'm going about my day, I realize that my hand is burned from sliding down the railing and my neck, back, and head hurt. On my way to this audition it gets worse, so I call my mom and she tells me to soak and take tylenol cause it's gonna hurt worse. Around this time, I get turned around and can't find the audition.
After about 25 mins of driving around town I'm getting frustrated at the amount of gas I have just wasted and missed the audition. So I recite the scripture "All things work together for good to them that love God..." so I changed my attitude and at this same time I saw two homeless men on Ponce Deleon. One sleeping the other just standing in the August heat. The Holy Spirit stirred my heart to feel compassion toward them. I was complaining about a mulititude of things trying to get to this audition, heat being the major thing since I rarely use air in my car. I thought, "I know if I'm hot, then they are definitely burning up."
I quickly turned into a gas station, purchased two big bottles of water, and drove a whole block just to go back to give them some water. As I drove over to the men. It dawns on me that my passenger window doesn't roll down, yet I am still trying to talk to the guy through that window. All the while there are cars behind me trying to figure out if I'm driving or not. He's looking at me crazy like why is this car here, so I roll down the back window, and I guess he saw the bottle and came over. I ask him if he'd like a bottle of water, he says thank you then I offer another for his sleeping friend. Then he kinda gives me a look of surprise and gratitude, and I say God Bless You! My spirit is overwhelmed that God's love could be shown through me.
After that, I drove down through little Five Points thinking of how many more homeless people could have used a cool drink. I was thinking of how I could do more for those less fortunate than myself. As I parked my car in lil 5 points, I realized something that God has been trying to get me to see in the midst of my trials. First of all my back pain had gone away. I was so busy focusing on the needs of someone else, I had no time to focus on my pain. God wanted me to see that thinking of others, serving, being and present help in the time of someone elses need, puts my life into perspective and allows God to bless (heal, deliver, restore...) me in my time of need. Things could always be worse, so when I get wrapped up in my issues, I am reminded that others hurt too, it's not all about me.
