I'll never forget a particularly warm summer day three kids
ago. . . I loaded up my boys and drove "oh so carefully" to town. I
slowly pulled into the parking lot at Target and parked my grandma mobile. I
decided to first get a shopping cart - (this is just far easier to do without my
baby in my arms while trying to restrain my two-year-old from running in the
parking lot). I pulled the cart around to the side of the car to get my toddler
out. As I am lifting him into the basket of the cart, I recall a news story I
read about people snatching purses out of carts. So being a "safe"
mom, I threw my purse over my shoulder, checked to make sure my keys were in my
purse, locked the doors, and then proceeded to get baby G out.
I had just gotten my baby unbuckled when I realized the
shopping cart with my precious cargo (toddler L) was gone! Bewildered, I looked
up to see my son flying down the parking lot in the shopping cart. At that
exact moment the cart hit a car that was backing up. Mortified, and the
adrenaline pumping through my veins like Wonder Woman, I ran to my toddler at
world record pace. He was smiling and absolutely fine. I quickly mumbled an
apology to the teenager driver, who looked at me as though I were a mental
patient. She smiled politely and left. I wheeled my precious cargo back to the
car, grateful that he was unscathed.
However, in the midst of the shopping cart commotion, I had
shut the door (the door that I had already locked). I then reached for my purse
and realized it too was in the car with baby G. What was I to do? I couldn't
very well just leave him in the car while I went in search of help. I'd be
charged as a negligent mother for sure! Fortunately, at that exact moment a
sweet old lady pulled in beside me (a tender mercy from God). I quickly
explained the situation to her and asked if she could stand by my car while I
went for help. She happily agreed. I ran into the store with my toddler tank on my
hip. I scanned the store and saw a security officer. I flagged him down and he
called the police to assist me.
I was waiting in the parking lot for a few minutes with the security
officer, the sweet old lady holding an umbrella to shield the sun from my baby,
and my toddler dancing in the cart, when a patrol car pulls up. The officer
gets out assesses the situation and tells me he doesn't have the right tool to
get the door open, but that another officer should be there momentarily. Baby G,
who was unbuckled, is now crawling around the car enjoying his freedom. Then an
officer on a motorcycle arrives. Again, he doesn't have the right tool. By this
point, I'm beyond embarrassed as it appears I’m living an episode of COPS.
People are staring, some are glaring, and there's not a thing I can do about it.
Another patrol car arrives. I'm now surrounded by police officers
on all sides. The officers are chatting with each other; some are playing with baby
G through the glass. Finally, a patrol car with the right tool arrives. At this
point, a lady brings me a bottle of water – (another tender mercy). The officer
gets the door open in a matter of seconds. I get baby G out, look him over, and
decide that he is just fine - not even breaking a sweat yet. I thank the
officers and the sweet old lady for all of their help as they leave. I want nothing
more than to drive home, but I’ve driven 45 minutes to run my errands and I
can’t leave empty-handed. So, I square my shoulder, take a deep breath, strap
my boys in the cart, and proceed into the store . . .
Moral of the story: (other than displaying my many mishaps
as a mom) despite our best intentions, things can go wrong. Fortunately, (as
has been the case for me time and time again) God provides tender mercies –
usually in the form of a kind person who offers to shield the sun from my baby
locked in the car, to the many officers who responded so quickly to assist us
in our time of need, to the kind woman who brought me a bottle of water. There
is goodness all around us, if we but open our eyes to see it. To me, the
kindness of others is but an extension of God’s love.
So friends, how will you help another today? Will you stand
idly by, uncertain of what to do, worrying about what others will think of you, and how
this may interrupt your plans for the day? Or will you accept the call to act and
help another who may be having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day? It
may be as simple as a smile, a hug, a note of appreciation, holding the door
open . . . to the more complex tasks of making someone dinner, running an elderly
woman to the grocery store, or helping someone change a flat tire. Whatever you do, I firmly
believe that kindness returns full circle. So, let us be kind. Let us give people
the benefit of the doubt. Let us be instruments in God’s hands to help and
uplift those in need - we may just be the answer to their prayers.
~Love me~Kristen
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