What Goes Around, Comes Around………..

One day a man saw an old lady, stranded on the side of the road, but even in the dim light of the day, he could see she needed help. So he pulled up in front of her Mercedes and got out. His Pontiac was sputtering when he approached her.  Even with the smile on his face, she looked worried. No one had stopped to help for the last hour or so. Was he going to hurt her? He did not look safe; he looked poor and hungry.

He could see that she was frightened, standing out there in the cold. He knew how she felt. It was that chill which only fears can put in you. He said, “I’m here to help you, ma’am. Why don’t you wait in the car where it’s warm? By the way, my name is Bryan Anderson”.  Well, all she had was a flat tire, but for an old lady, that was bad enough too. Bryan crawled under the car looking for a place to put the jack, skinning his knuckles a time or two.  Soon he was able to change the tire. But he had to get dirty and his hands hurt.

As he was tightening up the lug nuts, she rolled down the window and began to talk to him. She told him that she was from St. Louis and was only just passing through. She could not thank him enough for coming to her aid. Bryan just smiled as he closed her trunk. The lady asked how much she owed him. Any amount would have been all right with her. She was quite affluent. She already imagined all the awful things that could have happened had he not stopped.

Bryan never thought twice about being paid. This was not a job to him. This was helping someone in need, and God knows there were plenty, who had given him a hand in the past. He had lived his whole life that way, and it never occurred to him to act any other way.  He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance they needed, and Bryan added, “And do think of me.”  He waited until she started her car and drove off. It had been a cold and depressing day, but he felt good that he had come to the help of an old lady, as he headed for home.

A few miles down the road the lady saw a small café. She went in to grab a bite to eat, and take the chill off before she headed home. It was a dingy looking restaurant. Outside were two old gas pumps.
The whole scene was unfamiliar to her. She went and sat on one of the tables. The waitress came over and brought a clean towel to wipe the table. She had a sweet smile on her face, one that even being on her feet for the whole day couldn’t erase. The lady noticed that the waitress was nearly eight months pregnant, but she never let the strain and aches change her attitude.  She wondered how someone who had so little could be so giving to a stranger. Then she remembered Bryan.

After the lady finished her meal, she paid with a hundred-dollar bill. The waitress quickly went to get change for her money, but the old lady had slipped right out the door, by the time she came back to her table.  The waitress wondered where the lady could have gone. Then she saw something written on the napkin. There were tears in her eyes when she read what the lady wrote: “You don’t owe me anything. I have been there too. Somebody once helped me out, the way I’m helping you. If you really want to pay me back, here is what you do: “Do not let this chain of love end with you.”  Under the napkin was four more $100.

Well, there were tables to clear, sugar bowls to fill, and people to serve, but the waitress made it through. That night when she got home from work and climbed into bed tired, she was thinking about the money and what the lady had written. How could the lady have known how much she and her husband needed it? With the baby due next month, it was going to be hard with not enough money. She knew how worried her husband was, and as he lay sleeping next to her, she gave him a soft kiss and whispered softly, “Everything’s going to be all right. I love you, Bryan Anderson.”

There is an old saying, “WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND.” Let this divine light shine on all of us. God works in mysterious ways and sometimes puts people in our lives for a reason. Even the strongest hands can lose their grip, the greatest of minds can become cloudy, and the biggest of hearts can break. SO LEARN TO BE KIND AND GENEROUS TOWARDS WHOEVER YOU MEET IN YOUR LIFE.