Saturday, April 17, 2010

God Blessings

Kaeley is hugely passionate about helping the homeless. I once gave food to a man who was holding a sign by the side of the road. She thereafter yells at me every time I pass a person waving a sign in the air. I have to lovingly tell her that wasn't a homeless person, that was an advertisement for Subway. Yes, it's happened several times.
Today Brad dropped me off at 7-Eleven. The family waited in the car. There was a homeless man sitting near the entrance. He seemed to a bit on the not-right-in-the-head, but I knew I'd hear it from Kaeley if I didn't help him. I also thought about how I am to have courage when faced with challenging situations. I bought a packet of pretzels and walked outside. I asked him if he wanted some pretzels. He looked up at me and started speaking words that didn't go in an understandable sentence. I backed away slowly :), placed the bag on the side of the near by trash can, and told him they would be there if he wanted them. I walked back to the car thankful that he hadn't started screaming obscenities at me or throwing poop. I mean, you never know!
I got into the car, and, sure enough, Kaeley wanted to know what he had said. I explained that many homeless people had brains that didn't quite work right, so while I didn't know what he had said, we were supposed to be smart about our safety. She very sweetly told me that God would bless me.
After a moment Nathan piped up with, "God bless you, Mommy." This is our new rule in the house. I'm very strict about blessing people after sneezing, and the lesson as obviously sunk in.
Kaeley tried explaining the difference between sneeze-blessings and God blessing people when they had done something right. It was very cute.
I couldn't help but smile. God has blessed me. Even if they were arguing about when it was appropriate to bless people or not.

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