“Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.” – Romans 12:13
We recently took an Uber ride home from the airport late on a Friday afternoon. The first thing we noticed was the stifling heat that we had been hearing about while we were away. The temperature was over 100 degrees even that late in the afternoon. We were coming back from Colorado and the change in temperature was dramatic.
Our driver’s name was Marie. We quickly made our connection with her and we were headed home. Marie was very pleasant, and we had fun talking about the recent shake-up in the Oklahoma City Thunder roster. I asked her if she had been busy that day and she told us she had been very busy and driving since 4am. She intended to quit several hours earlier when there was a lull, but when things picked up again, she felt great and she decided to keep going. Her hope was to make enough to be able to take off that weekend so she could help her Dad, who was elderly and living alone. Her Mom had passed away the year before. This burst in activity was going to help her do just that and she seemed pleased.
Marie talked about the sweltering heat and told us about a man she had met earlier in the day. Several of her passengers were headed to the same area of town, so she took the same route quite a few times in a fairly short period of time. She noticed an older gentleman walking down the sidewalk very slowly. Each time she passed by him, he wasn’t far from where she had seen him earlier. He seemed to be struggling in the heat and one time she saw him sitting on the ground with his head in his hands. After she dropped off her passenger, she headed back to check on him. Marie asked him where he was headed, and his destination was about 45 minutes away……by car! She knew he would never make it safely on foot, so she invited him into her car to cool off. The look he gave her told her what she already knew. This man could not afford the fare for her to take him where he needed to go. She assured him that she would not charge him and would like to offer her service as a gift. As he climbed in her car, she handed him a bottle of cold water. He was quiet for quite a while and then tears began to stream down his face. Her concern for him was obvious and he was grateful for her gift of compassion. He thanked her over and over again.
In the midst of a very busy day, a woman with her own needs had seen the needs of a stranger and extended hospitality to him with kindness and respect. We dug a little deeper to sweeten her tip and thanked her for her unselfish act of kindness. May God help all of us have the eyes to see and the heart to care for the needs of those around us.
Marsha Long, Director of Hospitality Ministry
