I Wanna Talk About Me
Remember that Toby Keith song from fifteen or sixteen years ago? The one where he is telling his girlfriend that ‘ocassionally’ he’d like to talk about him. Cindy kind of had the same thought . . .
The other night, Cindy and I were watching TV when she asked me if I had written any Letters from Roscoe lately. I told her, “No. I’m waiting on inspiration.”
She quickly replied, “You know, they don’t all have to be about you. They could be about other people too. Like the other day, when I drove that girl home from the Children’s Hospital.”
The back story here is that Hunter (aka the real Roscoe) awoke in the middle of the night with the croup. Hardly able to breathe, my daughter packed him into the car and started heading towards Childrens. Along the way, she called Cindy and let her know and asked if she would come along. Which she did. What happens next is the real story.
As Cindy, Sheila and Hunter are waiting there to be seen, they notice a woman with a small child walking around the waiting room. Frequently, she would stop and use the hospital phone hang up and then walk around some more. At some point, the woman did contact someone and Sheila overheard her say that she had been there since ten o’clock the night before. It was now close to seven AM.
Sheila told Cindy what she had heard, so Cindy asked her “Have you really been here since 10:00 PM last night?” The lady replied that yes, she had. She went on to say that “Last night her baby was very sick and they had come in by ambulance.” Now she was trying to contact someone to get a ride back home but no one was answering the phone. Even her boyfriend wouldn’t pick up. Cindy told her, “If you can wait until Hunter is treated, we will take you home.” Very appreciative, the woman responded “I am just so tired.” Sheila just handed Cindy the keys and off they went.
Turns out the woman lives way out in Wartburg. And life hasn’t been that kind to her lately. In the past two years, she has lost a child, her father, and several other members of her immediate family. In fact, she was afraid that this child was sick with the same condition as the one that had recently passed away. She told all of this to Cindy as they drove.
It was the Christian thing to do, what Cindy did.
Cindy and I both believe God had brought her along on the trip to Children’s specifically to do that one thing. She didn’t have to go with Sheila. In fact, it was a little out of the way for Sheila to stop and pick her up.
God put her there for a reason.
Perhaps the ride that a Christian woman gave at a time of need and obvious loneliness and exhaustion will be the one thing that changes that woman’s life.
Perhaps the light that Cindy reflects from Jesus Christ will shine into this woman’s life and one day, she too will reflect the light of Jesus Christ into someone else’s life.
We will probably never know.
But I believe!
I believe that God places you in these situations to help others in need. Romans 12:13 (NLT) states ‘When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.’
It is up to us to always be listening for God’s voice telling us to help this or that person. Like the time I saw the guy on the bridge that needed a new coat. I didn’t listen at first and by the time I did and was able to return it was too late.
Cindy was listening. She heard. She understood what God was asking her to do and she responded the way a Christian is supposed to.