Green Eyes

It was a beautiful day. We were out at a nearby town with friends and our kids were playing around the fountain. I noticed an older woman, a grandma, slumped over asleep on the bench. She was homeless. As we were going to leave, I went to her, tapped her on the shoulder and offered my leftovers from lunch. "No thank you," she replied, "I already ate." I started to walk away and she said, "Can you just open this water bottle for me?" I opened it, handed it back to her and walked away. I was heartbroken at the thought that this grandma was living out on the street. What if that was my grandma? What has happened in her life that has caused her to be in such a trying situation? James 1:27 says, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress..." Why is no one looking after her I wondered? But my real conviction came later, as Niah and I were praying before bed. I was laying with Niah and praying for things that had happened during the day. "Lord I pray for the woman I saw by the fountain today. I pray she would find a warm place to stay tonight. I pray you would protect her while she is on the street, but most importantly, I pray she would know you." I finished with an AMEN and Niah asked, "Mom, what color eyes did the lady have?" "I don't know sweetheart." "Oh, she didn't look at you?" "No, she did, I just didn't look at her eyes." I left Niah's room thinking two things. I offered that lady my lunch without hesitation, but didn't spend enough time to even look in her eyes. And did I tell her that Jesus loves her? No, I was too worried about what the other people in the plaza were thinking. My insecurities of being watched overtook the opportunity for me to tell this lady about Jesus. Niah's innocent question reminded me to not miss opportunities to tell people about Jesus. My super observant 4 year old reminded me to look at people, to pay attention to the details and to find out what color eyes they have. I want to use the gift of helping people that the Holy Spirit has given me to connect with people so they might see a little glimpse of Jesus in me and I can tell them why I choose to help.