In Jesus name

My phone said it was around four-thirty in the afternoon as I sped down South Grade Road on my way home from work. I had had an exhausting day and I was extremely tired but wanting to pick up some groceries at the store I reluctantly decided to swing into the store for a quick stop. It was a beautiful fall day as breezy ninety degree temperatures caused the leaves to dry-out and fall into the street where they gentle bounced and tumbled across my path.

As I glided down the street, even before turning into the parking lot, I could see a family of three pan-handling at the corner of one of the grocery store’s side entrances. The father was in his thirties, clean cut and holding up a cardboard sign. The mother too was in her thirties and was very pregnant with a small little girl maybe six or seven clinging to her skirt. The sign the father was holding up had been written in very large, legible letters “We need your help- In Jesus name”. The “In Jesus name” part caught my eye.

It was only seconds after pulling into the parking that I started to wonder who they really were and what their story was. I began to think what a horrible way to exploit your pregnant wife and small child and then the whole “In Jesus name” thing was just too much; I couldn’t believe someone would stoop to such a low level to get a hand-out. As I sat there in the stillness of my truck and glued to my seat, it became clear that God was not going to let me get away with that kind of thinking. I must have tried to get out of my truck and go into the store some fifty times in the space of thirty minutes but every time I tried I was unable to get up as my eyes returned to watch the family at the corner with the “We need your help- In Jesus name” sign.

As I watched the family and the endless parade of cars, from the comfort of my own truck,  my heart began to melt and soften up like a wax candle that had been left out in the heat of the bright sun light. The store was very busy that night and my eyes couldn’t believe that so many cars were stopping at the corner and rolling down their windows to offer aid. I know this to be true because I was waiting in my car unable to go into the store for groceries. As I watched I discovered a cycle that developed and it went like this: Car 1 would pull up and stop at the corner roll down the passenger window and hand some cash to the father. Then car 2 would speed right by them sometimes without even stopping at the posted stop sign. Car 3 would pull up roll down their window and hand out cash as the cycle would repeat itself over and over again.

So, as I sat there in my truck watching many of you do the right thing something snapped inside of me and although it wasn’t Christmas time I indeed felt like the Grinch whose heart was beginning to feel something. The feeling continued to grow and soon I was able to get out of my truck and began walking over to the couple. As I approached them I could see they had some concerns but as soon as I introduced myself to them, complete with a Cheshire Cat smile,  they all lit up like the a light bulbs. 

I began to ask them questions like “What’s going on?” and “What had happened that they ended up here?” The family was from Romania and the father did not speak much English. The mother told me her husband had just lost his job because she was pregnant and the company he had worked for didn’t want to pay for health insurance. So I asked if they were Christians and if I could say a prayer for them and they said yes. As cars continued to drive by we all bowed our heads and asked God to provide a new job for the father, health-protection for all the family and enough money for gas to get the family back home to Anaheim. Obviously, I gave the couple all the cash I had and asked if they needed any food or water. 

I am so proud of all the residents of Alpine, who stopped to render aid to this family. Maybe there is still hope for humanity here on earth as we stop to give aid, a cup of cold water and a prayer for our brothers and sisters in Jesus name.