Seven Times Blessed

My wife and I were standing in the kitchen this past Saturday evening, updating each other on our day. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Neither of us was expecting anybody so I opened the door and there stood a lady with an envelope in her hand.

"Oh great," I thought to myself. Somebody's selling something neither one of us needs. But then the lady said something that made that thought vanish.

"Are you the one who stopped the other morning and gave me some gas?"

"Oh, yeah! Now I recognize you." I replied.

Three days earlier I had seen someone stopped on the roadside near our subdivision - emergency flashers flashing. I had stopped to offer help and learn that the lady had run out of gas."

"Neither of my kids are responding to my phone calls," she told me. That didn't surprise me. It was 5:30 AM. I returned to my home, got our gas can, and poured half of it into her car's empty tank.

As I was filling her tank she told me, "Thank you for stopping. You're an angel."

"I'm not an angel," I replied. "But I AM a Christian."

That was kind of a weird thing to say I guess, but it WAS 5:30 AM so that's my excuse. I followed her into town just in case she ran out of gas again. She did not.

Anyway, fast forward to the lady standing in our garage.

"I've been looking for you for days," she said and handed me the envelope she was carrying.

"I figured you were from this subdivision someplace. I stopped at another person's house because they also had a blue car but it wasn't them. Then, when I saw your car today, I had to stop."

In the envelope was a gift certificate to a local restaurant.

She thanked me again for stopping and said, "Take your wife out for a nice dinner," as she left.

As I reflected on what happened I came to the conclusion that I had been blessed, not once or twice, not thrice, but SEVEN times by my stopping to help that lady.

1. I enjoy helping others so stopping to do so the other day was already a blessing for me.
2. I got to share my faith with someone, albeit briefly. She knew that I was a Christian by the end of our encounter though.
3. Finding out the lady had gone WAY out of her way to find me was a blessing. My small effort was truly appreciated. THAT was a blessing.
4. I now get to take my wife out to dinner at one of her favorite restaurants - for free! Another blessing.
5. My wife got to hear through the words of another person that I had exhibited kindness. It was a blessing to hear my wife tell me I had done a good thing.
6. We now have a new friend in the neighborhood. We learned that she lives just a quarter mile down the road and that our sons went through high school together.
7. The biggest blessing though had to be writing this story and discovering just how much God has blessed me. He truly is a great God who gives.

It is a joy serving others and serving God. He has never failed in His abundant blessings! He is generous to those called to be His children. Please, if you don't know Him, if you have never surrendered your heart to Him, please do so today. You will be blessed far more than just seven times. :)

^"17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. ¹⁸ Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of His creatures." - James 1:17-18

^"6 But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. ⁷ So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸ And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work." - 2 Corinthians 9: 6-8 

Blessings - Laura Story