Hope

This past week a mother and son came by the Church in need of help. There was something in this Mom’s face that spoke volumes. It said she had had a rough few days. It said she was concerned about what was going to happen next. It said she worried that her son would realize how stressed she was about their situation.

I have seen that before. I don’t remember how old I was, and I am not sure where we had been, but I saw that same look on my Mom’s face many years ago. It was some time after my Mom and Dad divorced, but still in a time where things are a little fuzzy. My Mom, my brother, and I were headed home from somewhere. I don’t remember from where or why we had gone there… It was dark outside, I had fallen asleep on the back seat, and my brother had fallen asleep in the back floor board (back when we did not have to sit in car seats or even wear a seat belt). I began to wake up, I think because Mom was crying. Mom made an excuse that she needed a potty break, to stop at an Allsup’s. I was beginning to wake up when Mom went into Allsup’s. She told me she needed to use the restroom, but she never did. She stayed at the front of the store talking with the clerk. I could see she was crying, but not sure why. I later found out we were out of gas and out of money. When Mom walked back out to the car, there was that look. The look that said the future was uncertain. The look that said she was concerned that she had two sons in the car with no gas and no money. The look that said, how could I have gotten us into this situation…

Mom got back in the car and just sat there for what seemed like forever to this little boy, but was probably not more than a few minutes. I do not know if she was trying to figure out what to do next or what. Eventually a police officer stopped at Allsup’s for his evening snack. As he paid for his items, the cashier pointed out to the old blue Oldsmobile, with the crying woman and two little boys. As the police officer came out, he headed in our direction. Mom got out of the car and went towards him. They talked for a few minutes. The officer went back to his car and Mom climbed back in to ours. The police officer slowly drove around to where we were parked. Mom slowly backed our car out and followed the officer, muttering under her breath, “Please make it, please make it, just a little further…” The officer stopped in front of a large metal barn and motioned for my mom to pull around to the side. He filled up our car with gas, talked with Mom for a few minutes, handed her a few pieces of paper with phone numbers in case we needed additional help before reached home.

When Mom got back in to the car, there was a different look on her face. Hope. Hope that tomorrow would be a new day. Hope that things were not as bad as they seemed in this moment… That officer was a bearer of hope that night. At the time I did not understand what was going on, and to be honest I am still not sure what was going on, but that man offered an unfamiliar woman hope, and that hope made a difference.

I pray that the staff and I offered hope to the mom and son that stopped by our church last week. I pray we were a calm in the chaos they found themselves in. These opportunities do not happen every day. When the time comes, are you prepared to offer hope to those who desperately need it? It is an inconvenience to stop our busy lives to attend to those in need, but it shows our character, our humanity, when we do so to make a difference in their lives…