It is Friday again. Time seems to fly by and there is no way to slow it down. I am sure everyone who is over 50 feels this way. My problem is that I have a hard time remembering some of the things I felt when I was that age due to being in an alcohol haze. For sure the last fifteen years have past as if it were months not years.
I was sitting here as I began to write trying to remember just where I was 15 years ago. I had to stop and really think. Have you ever tried this? Just think where and what you were doing, pick any year back from now. First of all, what year would that be? So, through simple math, take 15 away from 2018 equals 2003. Ok, now I know the year and I have a pretty good idea where I was living at the time, Tracy, California. I also know that I was in my second year working at Harris Rebar, I guess it was called Harris-Salinas Rebar back then. But from there it is hard to fill in the blanks for 2003.
But there is one memory from 2004 that I remember crystal clear, maybe because it was so bizarre to me at the time! I do know that in 2002 when I moved from Las Vegas to the Bay area I brought the fifth wheel trailer I had been living in with me. I first set it up in a RV park close to Modesto, California but that was a long drive to work in Livermore. So, I found a park in Tracy and moved there either in late 2002 or early 2003. My wife was still living in Grants Pass, we had lived separately for a few years. But now we had committed to reunite. But the one thing she demanded was a better trailer. So, the search was on.
There was a particular type of trailer that we wanted, it is called a ‘park model’. These are medium size mobile homes that are easier to move than a standard but have more room than a RV. We looked high and low in the bay area and there were none to be found. So, on a whim we resorted to eBay and sure enough there was one and it was exactly what we were looking for, only one problem. It was in Colorado.
The price was right, but we could not afford a professional hauler to bring it from Colorado to California, that would cost almost as much as the trailer. One day while we were discussing it our neighbor who lived in a 5th wheel next to us dropped by. As we described our dilemma he did something that amazed both of us, he volunteered to drive to Colorado and pick up the trailer and bring it back, with me along as copilot. I was stunned to say the least. Why would anyone volunteer to do such a thing? His answer was simple, it was the right and Christian thing to do.
I had known that he was a Christian, he had talked about his beliefs but had never made a point of adding it to his conversations. I had noticed that he had been helpful to quite a few folks in the park, giving rides to others when needed and even buying food for an elderly lady in the next row over. But in my mind, those were easy things to do. But this, driving his truck over 1,200 miles one way and returning all in one weekend. I was skeptical. What was the catch? What did he want? I offered to pay him for wear and tear on his truck, above and beyond the normal expenses but he refused. He just wanted to do a simple act of kindness.
Simple acts of kindness. How often are we in a position to do such things and are either to busy or to self-absorbed to do them. It is my belief that it is not in our nature to be kind, or at least it was not in mine. That is where the Holy Spirit comes in, His gifts include kindness according to the apostle Paul, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”. (Galatians 5:22-23) When we are filled with the Spirit, all of the fruit he seeks to bring into our life come so much more naturally. It is not hard to understand when our lives are centered on Jesus and His unselfish love, these fruits will flow from us too. We will “walk in love, as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us…” (Ephesians 5:2)
Our friend was as good as his word. He and I left Tracy on a Friday and drove all night, arriving in a little town outside of Denver around noon on Saturday. We picked up the trailer and without stopping except for food and gas breaks made it back home by Sunday afternoon. After positioning the trailer for us, he left quietly without waiting for thanks or pats on the back. The terrible part of the story is a few years after this, he was in need and came to me asking for $500.00. I had the money and it would be no problem to give it, but I rebuked him and reminded him at he did not want money for helping us. He tried to tell me one thing had nothing to do with the other, but I was not about to give him the money with the kindness he had shown me in my time of need. I now regret that and pray for his forgiveness. And even as my memory is not as good as it once was, my heart has been changed by the power of the Holy Spirit, may I be open to offer any kindness I can without recourse and in love. That is my Friday prayer for us all.
Blessings and Happy Sabbath,
John
10/12/18
