Call me crazy, but I have a problem with being publicly humiliated. Oh, I know full well it’s due to my selfish pride. I get that. I’m human! But seriously, who likes looking (and feeling) like an idiot?
I met my friend, Gina, for lunch today at this huge restaurant. The place was teeming with people, mostly dressed in business attire. It was a great place and a far cry from the yoga pants & ball cap friendly establishments I typically visit. The food was good. The company even better.
Anyhoooooooo about 30 minutes into our meal, a handsome young man dressed in a dapper suit taps me on the shoulder and says, “Ma’am, you have a curler stuck on the back of your sweater.”
WHAT??????
That’s right. I had left the house with a velcro roller stuck to the back of my sweater! I vaguely remembered wondering where it went when I’d taken the rest out this morning, but clearly didn’t think a thing of it until Mr. Too-Kind-For-Words was courageous enough to point it out to me.
Did I mention the place was packed? In fact I used the word teeming because Webster’s defined that word as abounding or swarming with something, as with people. Yeah, that kind of busy. Ugh.
Why in the world did it take 30 minutes for someone – anyone! – to mention this to me? Gina couldn’t see my back, but the waiter surely could. And so did the dozens of people surrounding our table that was (wait for it…) located in the middle of the restaurant. How is it that nobody but this Good Samaritan said a word?
I thanked him, of course. But I really wanted send his mother flowers and a thank you note for raising such an amazing human!
Things like this make me cringe and laugh at the same time! I say “things” because I have racked up volumes of embarrassing stories in my life. But I know that in God’s economy, nothing is wasted, so I thought about what the Good Lord wanted me to get out of this experience.
This young man was my Good Samaritan. In the parable, a man had been robbed, beaten and left for dead. Others passed him by (aka my waiter!) without offering any assistance. Finally a Good Samaritan stopped to help, but the story doesn’t end there. He not only put the injured man on his donkey and took him into town, he paid an innkeeper to house and care for him until he returned.
So here’s my take on the Velcro Roller Incident…
The next time I see someone in need, I pray I stop. Whether it is someone who needs encouragement, extra love and prayer or has toilet paper stuck on their shoe. I pray I stop and have the courage and compassion to lean in and help.
We are all neighbors. In public and in private, we are called to love one another and to help each other. I am grateful for my Good Samaritan today but even more grateful that God used it for good, reminding me of the greatest commandment…
He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'” Luke 10:27
Oh by the way, you have spinach in your teeth.
You’re welcome.
P.S. Join me and many wonderful women at Women of the Way Ministries. You’ll be glad you did!