Even if you have read this before, it is worth reading again . . . it may be a little long, but take the time!
One day a man saw an old lady, stranded on the side of the road,
but even in the dim light of day, he could see she needed help. So he
pulled up in front of her Mercedes and got out. His Pontiac was still
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 didn't 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 fear 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. 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
couldn't 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
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 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 as he headed for home,
disappearing into the twilight.
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 made the last leg of her trip home. It was
a dingy looking restaurant. Outside were two old gas pumps. The whole
scene was unfamiliar to her. The waitress came over and brought a clean
towel to wipe her wet hair. She had a sweet smile, one that even being
on her feet for the whole day couldn't erase. The lady noticed the
waitress was nearly eight months pregnant, but she never let the strain
and aches change her attitude. The old lady 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 hundred
dollar bill, but the old lady had slipped right out the door. She was
gone by the time the waitress came back. The waitress wondered where the
lady could be. Then she noticed 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 were four more $100.
Well,
there were tables to clear, sugar bowls to fill, and people to serve,
but the waitress made it through another day. That night when she got
home from work and climbed into bed, 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....
She knew how worried her husband was, and as he lay sleeping
next to her, she gave him a soft kiss and whispered soft and low,
'Everything's going to be all right. I love you, Bryan Anderson.'
There is an old saying... 'What goes around comes around.' Today
I send you this story, and I'm asking you to pass it on. Let this light
shine. God works in mysterious ways and sometimes puts people in our
lives for a reason.
Don't delete it, don't return it... Simply, pass this on to a friend, I just did...
