Have
you ever been in your car alone, received good news and look around
to realize you have no one to share it with? That happened to me a
few weeks ago as I was driving through Panera. I had a mammogram that
was questionable and a week later had to have another one and an
ultrasound. The nurse called me on my cell phone to tell me
everything was normal and I was elated.
I
always listen to a radio station that advocates sharing “JOY”
with someone which also happens to be their call letters. I had not
done that in quite awhile, and since I had no one to tell the good
news to, I wanted to pay for the car behind me and share my joy. When
I got to the window, I told the young lady asking for my Panera card that I also wanted to pay for the car behind me. She looked at me
like a puppy hearing a high-pitched noise. She said, “Oh, you know
her, right?” I explained to her that I had just received some good
news and I wanted to do something nice for someone else and share my
joy. Again, apparently, the high-pitched noise. She finally gave me
the combined totals, and I handed her the money.
I
slowly pulled away checking my bag with my lunch. I heard a lot of
honking behind me and looked in my rearview mirror to see the car
whose lunch I paid for, waving out the window and laying on the horn.
I was getting embarrassed because I was thinking she wanted to thank
me and that was not why I did it. So, I pulled over in front of Dobbs,
and the lady pulled behind me and got out of her car. I was trying to
practice my most humble, “Oh, it was nothing” when I realized by
her body language on the way to my car she was mad! Really mad! As my
Granny would say, "Madder than a wet hen!" I tried only to roll down my
window halfway until I could feel her out, but I’m not sure
electric windows do that.
She
leaned her head in my window and was yelling at me, “You don’t
know me! Who do you think you are buying my lunch? I didn’t ask you
to buy me a $%$#@ thing! Now you think I owe you something?” My
head was spinning. No way I expected this. When I get nervous, I have
a tendency to ramble. So, I was trying to explain I had a bad
mammogram, my husband has cancer, it’s really bad timing, but is
there ever good timing for a bad mammogram, I just had another
mammogram earlier that morning and an ultrasound, the nurse called
while I was in the car, I saw her car, I listen to JOY FM radio, they
say you should “Joy” someone and I did, didn’t you notice the
pink sticker on the back of my car, she happened to be the car behind
me at the time I decided to “joy” someone and no I don’t know
her, but God knows her and no I don’t expect anything in return,
that never occurred to me. Wheww!
All
of a sudden, I hear someone knocking on my passenger window. It was
one of the guys from Dobbs. He wanted to know if I was okay. I looked
at the lady leaning in my window and asked, “Am I okay?” She had
a hint of a smile and told me I was okay. I turned to the Dobbs
gentleman and assured him I would be fine.
The
“Joyed” lady asked me again if I thought she owed me anything. I
tried in a more calm less rambling mode, to explain to her how
blessed I am and I pray she is blessed as well. She backed away a
little from my car and was a little misty eyed when she said, “No
one, no one has ever given me anything they did not expect something
in return.” Before I knew it, tears were rolling down my cheeks. I
told her I would pray for her and that the only thing God wants from
her is devotion. I asked her if she had a church, and she said it had
been a few years since she had been in a church. I told her that my
husband and I would love to have her go to church with us. She backed
away a little more and pointed her finger at me. She had a reluctant
smile as she said, “You’re okay, lady!”
She tapped the back of my car
as she headed back to hers. I don’t know if she was touching the
sticker or giving me the signal to leave. I sat in my car not moving
for a minute trying to take it all in. I had a feeling someone was
looking at me and realized the Dobbs guy was still standing there. I
rolled the window down and told him I was fine and thanked him for
being concerned. I started to explain to him what had transpired, and
he waved at me and told me to have a good day. He must have sensed my
ability to ramble.
The thing the Lord taught me
in this encounter is that you never know what hurt may be going on in
someone else’s life and how you can be the vessel to pour out His
love. I will probably never see that woman again, but I have prayed
for her consistently and God knows who she is. That’s all that
really matters.
By Pat Schwieder
Grateful your mammogram came back okay. You have inspired me to "Joy" someone. :)
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