I think most of us have a story or two we could share about how we feel we were in the “right place at the right time” to do something for someone in need. It might have been seeing someone’s tire blow out and we pulled over to help; or it might have been a time in the checkout aisle where someone realized they didn’t quite have enough to pay for their groceries and we stepped up to pay the balance due.
But as you remember those moments, what still puts a smile on your face is not the heartfelt gratitude you received, but the knowledge you made a difference in their lives in that moment.
On a typical Sunday morning last summer my wife was at her usual guest services position at North Point Church making sure first time guests had reserved seats in the main auditorium while they navigated getting their children to their UpStreet classroom. This particular weekend was a big weekend for the kids because they were to receive their hero bracelets. All month-long the North Pointer kids, grades K thru 5, were learning about the Super Heroes of the Bible and how trusting God is their ultimate super power.
On this Sunday they were to stop by a kiosk on their way into UpStreet to pick up their Super Hero identification bracelets. Unfortunately this Sunday a Mom was running late, really late. She saw my wife’s guest services badge and asked where her daughter should pick up her bracelet. Shari had to tell her that they had all already been handed out. The kindergartener’s eyes filled with tears. Not to be deterred, my wife bent over and said to the sad little girl, “How about this bracelet instead?”
Shari had recently been given a Psalm 91:11 bracelet which was engraved with: For He shall give His angels charge over you to keep you in all your ways.
She grinned ear to ear as Shari placed her personal “Super Hero” bracelet on the little girl’s wrist. The little girl said thank you and then said goodbye as she headed off to meet up with her small group with her personal super hero bracelet.
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A few months later, Mom and daughter sought out my wife at the entrance to UpStreet. She said that since that day, her daughter had been searching for the perfect bracelet to give to Shari as a thank you. They had finally found it. This time, it was my wife’s eyes that filled up with tears.
The bracelet on the left with the cross is a gift my wife never sought, yet it is something my wife will cherish forever. Obviously because of the special little girl who gave it to her, but also because it serves as a reminder that God blessed her with an opportunity to be a Super Hero in the eyes of a little girl on a typical Sunday morning.
~Tom
trusting God period!
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