Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Just passin' by....

I love to organize... I love coupons... so one day when I was at my buddy, AuburnChick's blog I noticed she had a coupon organizer that helped her in all the savings she gets.  I was immediately intrigued.  So off to my 2nd Heaven, Hobby Lobby, to get some baseball card holders.  I already had a binder at home  & plenty of labels, so that night, it was a Coupon Craft Event!  I was in love with my binder... loved looking for a few cents off an item in a store...felt like the organized Coupon Queen!  (That's a real title too - I promise!)

THEN... lets fast foward to Christmas time.  I am in Wal-mart, on December 23rd.  You can imagine how crowded it was - how hectic the pace was.  I'm in to pick up a few last minute things, wrapping, tape, & some snack goodies for Christmas Eve & Christmas morning breakfast.  So of course, I have my handy coupon binder. 

I pull out my binder, when all of a sudden, it was like something in the movies - everything went into s..l..o..w..... m..o..t..i..o..n......& I'm fumbling & trying to save my binder like an action star.  Well, a female Bruce Willis I am not, because SPLAT - my binder hit the floor.  And not only did my binder hit the floor, but my binder came OPEN & all the pages of individually tagged coupons just SLID right across the floor... and NOT ONLY that, but all the coupons slide OUT of the holders... Mess is NOT the word.  I literally just stood looking at it for a full minute, like "are you kidding me?"

So, I bend down & start picking them up... & you're talking little coupon cuttings too - so they were hard to get ahold of, & they were sticking to the floor.  At one point, I ended up using my feet to kick them into a pile so I could at least scoop them up a little bit easier.  When I got them in one area, I just sat on the ground while I tried to pick it up.  All of a sudden, I just realized I had been working on this mess for about 5 minutes.. & then,  I looked up....

I was very close to the front of the store, where people were coming in & leaving... & just next to the check out lanes, where the lines were long because it was the last minute shoppers loading up.  These people were just standing there - not moving... And as I looked up, I noticed that no one would even look my way.  They obviously could see there was a "situation" that could use some help.  I mean, how do you miss a lady on the floor in the middle of Walmart, just looking up at people while sitting in a PILE of papers?... people were avoiding catching my eye... they didnt want to help - they didnt want to take time out of their schedule.  It was the day before Christmas Eve afterall - who has time to slow down?.... I actually kinda chuckled at the craziness of it all....

Then this weekend, during Believe, we went over the story of the Good Samaritian (Luke 10:25-37)... here was a man who had been robbed & beaten... It says that the priest "SAW" the man & then "passed by on the other side"... then here came another man who also "SAW HIM" & passed him too...

Finally it says that this Samaritian "Saw him & took pity on him"
I instantly thought back of my "coupon incident" & thought, who REALLY saw me?  I think a lot of people actually SAW me... but they just passed me right by...

Here was a simple situation - if one other person helped me, it could have been taken care of in a matter of minutes... but no one was willing...

So what happens when big situations happen & people SEE & pass right on by?

Thank God there are the Samaritians in the world who do see & take pity... because I think we have become a world where people are much more comfortable with blinders on... pretending not to see.  And I know I fall in this category myself sometimes.  I think we all do really at times...

But I also know now, I'm more aware... I'm going to try to keep blinders off & SEE & take pity... after all, at the end of this parable, Jesus asks who do you think was a neighbor to this man... "The one who had MERCY on him"...

Jesus reaction "Go & do likewise"....

9 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness this post is for me!! Last night at a literacy event I had the opportunity to take a family of 6 home. It was snowing and they had walked to the event. I felt so let to drive them home. Upon my return my Director discussed liability with me. Are we all so afraid to help others that we put blinders on? I am so thankful that I drove that family home. I want those children to remember when kindness was shown to them. I truly can't tell you how much this post means to me!!
    Thank you!!

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  2. Jesus always says it best right?! "Go and do likewise." Love it. We definitely need to be more aware, at least I know I do. It's easy to get in a hurry and not want to stop to help someone. But I know when people do it for me, it makes a world of difference.

    Great post Rebecca!

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  3. What an awesome post, Rebecca! I do whatever I can to extend a helping hand to others...holding a door open for an elderly couple, offering some pocket change when the person in front of me in a checkout line doesn't have enough...or just simply saying "thank you" to the waitress who's trying hard to make a decent living. Being compassionate really isn't that hard if only more people would give it a try.

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  4. Just catching up and loving this post. Goes right along with what I've been trying to teach my girls all month. Loving others by acknowledging them. Hmmm....

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  5. What a great post!! And such a wonderful reminder of what we are called to do, really SEE people. Not just look and pass them by!!

    Blessings!!

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  6. What a great reminder to take our blinders off, Thanks!

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  7. First of all, thanks for the shout-out, my friend!!

    Your post goes along with one I read on a different blog...about noticing and praying for people we encounter, whether you notice them in the cars around you in traffic or in a restaurant. Praying for them first requires that we SEE them. As you said, we need to really LOOK and not be distracted by what's going on in our own lives (difficult sometimes).

    Ohhh...there is a world full of hurting out there...people just need to be made to feel like someone cares. What a difference we can make!!

    Keep spreading the word, Girl! YOU ROCK!

    P.S. You know that I TOTALLY would have helped you out had I seen you in that store!!

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  8. Great post and reminder! Sometimes I need to take the blinders off too.

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  9. If I had been there I would have been bending over helping you for sure - sucks that people don't care much these days :-(

    when people drop coins at the checkout I'm always trying to help them recover their cash

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