Aug
20
2015
One Encounter
Posted in Daily Living 2 Comments
We needed to run to the store with the bulls-eye.
Except this store was not in our hometown.
This particular store was near my daughter’s college.
She hung soft white lights around her dorm room and needed another strand.
As we walked through the store, I heard it.
The desperate hunger cry of a baby.
The cry was loud and demanding.
This little one was obviously very hungry.
Every mother can attest to the mother response.
It is almost a knee-jerk reaction.
You hear a baby cry and immediately you want to act.
You want to hold the child and try to console the precious baby.
Every mother also has the mommy rock.
The sway from side to side that immediately happens when a baby is in your arms.
I heard this precious baby and knew that this child was desperately hungry.
There would be no consolation until this little one was fed.
All throughout the store, we could hear this little baby.
My daughter and I walked to the back of the store to the seasonal section.
All the little lights were on sale, which was a nice surprise.
As we walked, we could hear that we were getting closer to the hungry little baby.
We passed a little girl about six years old pushing a bright red shopping cart.
The cry got louder as we neared the cart.
My daughter and I looked into the shopping cart and saw a tiny baby.
Except the baby we saw was not crying.
This baby was not crying but the other baby was.
Twins!
There were beautiful twins in a wicker basket that was inside the shopping cart.
One baby was happy with little legs kicking, the other was desperately crying to be fed.
I smiled at the little girl pushing the shopping cart.
Your babies are so beautiful, I said and she smiled at my comment.
She seemed so proud; but there was nothing she could do for the hungry baby.
I looked and saw two more little girls; I guessed their ages at about eight and four years.
Five children all under the age of eight.
I continued on with my daughter and then I heard their mother’s voice.
She sounded so frustrated; not angry but weary.
Her little girls were helping her put things in the shopping cart.
There was one problem.
The things they were putting in the shopping cart were not the things she wanted to buy.
She corrected them in a “I’m at my wits end” kind of voice.
I turned around and my daughter followed me.
The young mother reached into the cart and picked up her crying baby.
I caught her gaze.
Your babies are beautiful, I said over the lusty cry.
Her eyes were moist with tears that would easily come but she kept them at bay.
My helpers are not very helpful, she said to me as if to make excuses.
Oh, they’re wonderfully helpful, I said smiling at the little girls.
You are such good girls to help your Mommy in the store.
They smiled back at me and looked at their mother for affirmation.
You wouldn’t know it by the blanket but they are both boys.
I looked inside the wicker basket and saw a very girly blanket covering the bottom.
Another way the little girls were helping, I assumed.
I looked at the mother and saw immediately that she needed to nurse her baby.
Her body was responding to the cry of her child.
Her eyes were tired, but she was so beautiful.
How old are your babies? I asked and she told me they were seven weeks old.
You are so blessed, I told her softly, you are doing a great job!
There it was.
A smile.
An exhale of breath that seemed to release all the tension of this shopping trip.
As she calmed, so did her precious baby.
I looked into the basket and the other little boy was happily kicking his tiny legs.
I looked at the little girls and they were all reaching over the cart to touch his tummy.
I looked at the mother and her face had brightened.
She just needed to be reminded.
One encounter.
One little interlude in someone’s day.
One small opportunity to make a difference.
One encounter that could have gone in another direction.
Can you imagine if I had been annoyed by the cry of this baby?
Can you imagine if I passed this young mother and looked at her judgmentally?
Can you imagine if I passed her and clicked my tongue in disdain?
Can you imagine if I said something unkind to this mother who was already struggling?
One encounter.
One chance to either build up or tear down.
We have such opportunity as we relate to each other.
We have a few minutes to make a difference for good or for bad.
I had lunch with a dear friend and I told her this story.
She smiled knowingly and told me about a similar experience.
She had been out to dinner and the waiter was frantically running around the restaurant.
She said that she got tired just looking at him.
He came over to the table to check in on her and her friends.
She looked up at him and smiled.
Stop and take a deep breath, she told him with gentle authority.
The waiter did just that; she could see the tension begin to lift.
He explained to her how they were shorthanded.
He told her that so many people had called off work that night.
He was trying to do multiple jobs.
Take a deep breath, she said again as she lifted her hands up and down in simulation.
One encounter.
Being intentional to make the most of minutes we are given.
Being purposeful in the way we relate to others.
Being certain that as God leads our response, He will work through us to lift another up.
Therefore encourage one another and build each other up just as in fact you are doing.
(1 Thessalonians 5:11)
One encounter is sometimes all we are given.
One encounter is sometimes all that is necessary to affect change.
One encounter is sometimes all that is needed to help someone press on.
One encounter is a tangible way to show another person the grace of God.
One blessed encounter.
Ask the Lord whom He may want you to connect with today.
Ask Him to direct you to that one person who needs encouragement.
Ask Him to show you a small way to make a difference.
Ask Him; He will delight in showing you.
Bless you for minding God in this situation. One of the things that I have found over the years in dealing with situations such as these is that negative responses — however warranted — do not help. It is amazing to me how when someone — anyone! — takes a few moments to encourage and bless instead of condemning, it makes such a difference! You did good, Dear Friend. And somewhere there is a young mama who is savoring your words that she so desperately needed. “You are doing a great job.”
“Whispers of His Movement . . .”
For sure.
Mary Ann,
God gets all the praise and the glory. The encounter could have been so different had God not been in it. How many moments we miss throughout our day. God helps us to become more aware.
Gina