Saturday, February 20, 2021

The Homeless Woman

I also saw someone else in the grocery store ~ Bonnie, the homeless woman. She was with someone else, and I did not want to interrupt so I simply continued on down the aisle. 

This weekend, on a local 'helping hands' board, a post went up. A concerned citizen noticed that we had a homeless woman and her dog walking the streets. She was concerned. A flurry of posts went up, people brainstorming on how best to help her. 

'I took her to the grocery store yesterday.' 

The motel that she is in gave her a free weeks' stay.

Someone took dog food. and things for the dog (who s named 'Dog', btw.)

People stepped up, 3 dozen posts, the last I checked. 

The interesting thing is that as she tells her story to multiple people, there are obvious differences in the stories. But in these difficult days, what shines the brightest is the simple kindnesses being extended.

Are we all being taken advantage of? 

Perhaps.

At the end of our days, we will not be judged on whether or not our kindnesses were used wisely. We will simply be judged on whether or not we extended kindness into a world that is starved for it. 

9 comments:

  1. I think you are exactly right, Debby. We might be taken advantage of but that should not dissuade us from being kind. Thanks for sharing this.

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  2. Kindness doesn't have strings attached. When we do good for others, it is about them, not ourselves or our own expectations. That's what my mom always tells me anyway.

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  3. I like your way of thinking about her. While she may be a user of sorts, she is still mentally frail and in need of help and some reassurance.

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  4. There but for the grace of God go I.

    Fair play to you Debby. You are a very practical and loving Christian. Jesus teachings of the beatitudes come to mind.

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  5. I agree. Sometimes, you just need to do the right thing and help as best you can.

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  6. Couldn't agree more. Also, I'm encouraged by the kindness of your community.

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  7. My parents used to take care of people like this who wandered into their tiny community of 200 something people. They had a slush fund created for getting them what they needed. If I had to guess, it probably went by the wayside after mom died because she was probably the driver of the issue, having been poor and nearly destitute before.

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  8. Bob, you know what strikes me about all of this? Our community has been sharply divided. Really, really divided. Someone on the thread (NOT me) commented about how wonderful it was to joining together to figure out how to be helpful without a thought to politics or religion or 'does she deserve it?' Bonnie describes herself as "a pilgrim". In a way, I can almost believe it. She has turned our attention to things above and beyond the things that divide us. It really did make me hopeful.

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  9. This is beautiful, Debby and you're so very right.

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I'm glad you're here!

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