We live in a rural area on a lake, so our neighbors aren’t exactly close by. Not only that, but many of the homeowners only show up in the summer on a weekend. The guy that plows our driveway lives about a mile away, and I only know him as the plow guy and the concrete guy who did a beautiful job on our screen porch floor. We have had limited conversations, at best.
However, because it is a small town, everyone knows everyone else and oftentimes, personal stories end up on the front page of our local newspaper. That is how I found out that the plow guy’s youngest daughter recently had a heart transplant. She is only 12 years old and was diagnosed 18 months ago with a rare disease in which the walls of the heart thicken to the point that the heart can no longer pump. There is no treatment – it is terminal. The only hope is a heart transplant.
Can you imagine having a 12-year-old child whose life depends on someone else losing their life?
I can’t.
When I saw the news in the paper stating that the transplant was successful and that she would be coming home, my own heart jumped for joy. How could I possibly let this family know how happy I was about their wonderful news?
Why not do what we often do? Bring food!
I sent a text to the plow guy. In addition to telling him how thrilled I was to hear the good news, I asked if I could bring them dinner one night that week.
“We would love that – thank you” was the response.
When I made the offer, I honestly thought he would pleasantly decline and say they were fine. Instead, he graciously said yes, and it made my day!
What the meal consisted of isn’t important; what is important is that I was blessed because I got to help someone else. Someone I hardly know. Someone that could have easily said no thanks, but didn’t.
Later that night I couldn’t help but think how grateful I was that he said yes to my offer. That thought was quickly followed by the reminder that I am reluctant to ever except help. It doesn’t make any difference if I know the person or how much I could use the help, I say no thank you and figure out how to get by on my own.
What if everyone was like me? What if no one asked for help? What if no one accepted help?
What a sad world it would be!
Thank you, plow guy, for saying yes to a meal from an almost stranger and for teaching me a lesson!