Thankful for living lessons to help me grow <3

This morning I was scrolling through Instagram and read an interesting interpretation of a painting, The Gleaners, by Jean-François Millet. In the painting’s foreground you see three peasant women leaning over to glean the leftovers from a bountiful harvest that is piled up in huge stacks in the background. 

At the time it was painted, this was a statement to the post-Revolution viewer to notice the overlooked women. It challenged them to see those who are unseen. And the author of the Instagram post challenged anyone who read the words to do the same in this day and age. 

I shared it and then finished my devotions, had some breakfast and got ready to go walk at the Y with Russ. Yesterday’s storm has left our roads snow packed but navigable if you are careful. 

We were going down one of the main roads that has four lanes when we noticed a woman walking along the edge of where the snowplows had piled up a ridge covering the sidewalk. She was carrying a few things and a purse as she made her way along. 

It is Zero degrees today. The road was dicey for our truck. I couldn’t imagine her walking and wondered if she was trying to get to the hospital a few blocks away to report for work. Russ and I decided we needed to go back and offer her a ride. 

At the next intersection, Russ pulled in to try and do a u-turn and we saw another walker that seemed more urgent to attend to. There was a man with a backpack and a cane, trying to make his way along this more narrow side street.

He walked with a limp and Russ made a quick decision and straightened the truck so we could come alongside him. I rolled down my window and asked if he would like a ride somewhere. His smile was huge as he nodded his head vigorously. I got out to help him and he said he could do it. 

His accent was so thick it was not easy to decipher what he was saying. Jamaican, if it had to guess. We did figure out that the buses were not running and he was on his way to dialysis down the road. 

We drove about a half mile from where we picked him up to his facility. All the while he was saying how “God is good today” and thanking us for picking him up and telling us he just didn’t understand why the bus didn’t pick him up. 

We got him in and later checked to make sure they would get him home safely. They were so kind and said yes, he would not be walking back! The road was not only long for this man but up and down hills and curves with snow. I was so relieved to hear the assurance he would not be returning by foot. 

After we got him there we went back to check on the lady. She was no longer on the road. She either lived in one of the buildings along that path, got picked up or was just an angel making sure we stopped at that intersection and got that man where he needed to be. 

All of this is not to point to anything we did. Trust me. 

This is to thank God for showing us someone we could help today. 

It’s also about how I cried in humility for all that we have and realizing how many people in our community today are  having to figure out how to get somewhere in freezing temperatures with no paths cleared and no public transportation. 

It’s realizing and seeing the Gleaners and prayerfully asking God to show me where I can make a difference for someone who seems unseen. 

Because HE sees them. 

As our friend got out of the truck and thanked us, I told him God had seen him and sent us to get him. He smiled that beautiful smile again and headed in to tell the desk about God’s goodness today.