No One Has EVER Done This For
Me
=================================
"No one
has ever done something like this for me," the woman
said.
I could make
a million excuses for what had happened, but none
of them
could justify how I acted.
It had been
a few weeks since we first discovered Keith had
cancer.
The shock of it all was still fresh in my mind.
There were
times when a numbness came over me, perhaps a shield
to
protect me
from the affects of too much stress. Other times I
lived right
on the edge wondering, waiting for some bit of hope
to cling
to. But that day nothing seemed to be going right.
We were
waiting for some crucial test results regarding my son's
cancer.
I pulled into the parking lot and found the gate open
so I just
drove through. They had trouble with their system a
few times
before so I thought nothing of it. I parked and
headed into
the building.
Several
hours later, I decided to run to the store to pick up a
few things I
would need for my stay over there at the hospital.
They
permitted parents to sleep there so we could be near our
children.
Not in a bed, but on a bench built in the window.
I had so
much on my mind that I never stopped to think about my
comfort.
I was just grateful to be there with him.
As I headed
toward the exit of the parking lot, I noticed there
was a long
line. In my hurry to get back to Keith, I became
more than
impatient with the situation. I was becoming angry.
Finally, as
I approached the tollbooth, I hurriedly explained
that I did
not get a ticket when I came in that day.
"I'm so
sorry. We've been having problems lately. What time
did you come
in?" the woman asked.
"What?"
I replied.
"I need
to know what time you came in, so that I can charge
you,"
she said.
"I
can't even remember what day it is and you want me to know
what time I
arrived here," I said angrily.
"Sir, I
can't open the gate until..."
"My son
is lying up there in a hospital bed. He could be dying
from cancer
and you want me to remember what time I arrived in
the parking
lot?"
"Sir, I
am sorry but..."
"I have
no idea. How sad this is that you stand there worried
about how
many dollars I owe you and you have no concern for
what is
happening to my son,"
I screamed
at her. "Here's five dollars. Keep it.
Now get me
out of here!"
The gate
went up and I drove off quickly. When I arrived at the
store I
couldn't even remember why I was there. Still shaking
from the
fury of my outburst, I wandered around inside the store
thinking
about what I had just done.
I tried to
justify it a hundred times, but I knew deep in my
heart she
didn't deserve what I had said. I purchased a few
items and
returned to the hospital.
Ashamed, I
entered the lot and hurried into the building.
All I needed
to do was see my son's face and the guilt of it all
came rushing
over me.
"Did
you get what you needed, Dad?" he asked.
"Ah,
no. There's one more thing I need to pick up," I said.
I went down
to the gift shop and bought a small bouquet of
flowers.
Walking out
the front door, I nervously approached the ticket
booth across
the road.
Still faced
with a long line of cars, the woman looked up at me.
The next car
to exit paused a few feet away when they saw that
I was headed
toward the booth.
"I need
to ask you to forgive me. There is no excuse for
the anger I
aimed at you earlier. You are just doing your job.
Please
accept these flowers," I said and then turned and walked away.
The woman
stepped out of her booth in front of that same car.
With my back
toward her I heard, "Can I give you a hug?"
"Oh,
Lord," I said perhaps thanking him for the compassion she
held in her
heart.
"Yes, I
would be honored," I said.
"No one
has ever done something like this for me," the woman
said.
There we
stood in the drive way exit hugging. Two strangers
whose lives crossed by chance. Two people blessed with
compassion
by embracing forgiveness.
Who do you
need to forgive today?
To the world, you may just be somebody...but
to somebody, you may be the world.
Bill Wilson, Metro Ministries
In His Steps Ministries
http://www.creatingfutures.net/list.html