What do I have a Sign on my Head?

Today, I went to pick up Rhys’ Christmas gift – a blue Baby Bumbo seat- from some dude via a purchase I made through the ever popular website, Craigslist.com.  When I got there he asked me if I was involved in InterVarsity.  When I responded yes, he gave me some of my money back because he had friends “whose lives where changed through InterVarsity,” at Central Michigan University!

(As an aside, there is nothing that warms an InterVarsity staff workers heart than hearing things like this).

As I was driving home, I was contemplating how things like this always happen to me.  It’s as if I have a sign on my head: “be generous to me.”  I frequently experience random acts of kindness both from those who know me & those who don’t.

~Like the time last year when some woman who worked at Wal-Mart cleaned out all the trash & vacuumed my car when I left it for an oil change.

~Or recently when some woman at a kids consignment store gave me a $25 off coupon because she “had an extra one!” (and, yes, she could have used it herself)!

~ The list could go on & on, really.  Much of this year I’ve blogged about how many people came around us to help us with our house, to prepare for Rhys & the hundreds of people who pitched in to help Dave & I rebuild our ailing roof when it’s problems were far beyond our budget.

Now, I don’t believe in Karma.  It’s just too weird.  Not to mention that it goes way outside of my Christian worldview.

However, I do believe in the idea that you reap what you sow and the idea that -not always, but a lot- what goes around truly does come back around.  Maybe the difference between what I believe about Karma is that I think instead of it all being random, my belief is that God is involved.

Somehow.

I wish I knew why God allows some “bad” people who commit evil atrocities are -seemingly- blessed with wealth and brilliance while some “good” people continue to struggle through tragedy after tragedy.

In any case, understand-it-all-or-not aside all I know is that I try, and I do mean try, to be as nice to people as humanly possible when I’m out and about.  As I mentioned in my post the other day about helping that handicapped man, I don’t always want to, but I do it.

I wondered today if good comes back around to me because I give it.

On Thanksgiving one of my best friends, Jamileh was telling me how much it meant to her that I carted her all over town while we were doing our undergrad work at Wayne State University in my 1996 red Probe SE.

When I got that car -that was, ahem, way beyond my means- I told God that it was His car and that if anyone ever needed a ride I would always give it to them. I would be God’s chauffer, so to speak.

And, boy oh boy, did God take me up on that promise.  Folks always needed a ride & I was glad to give it.  In fact, Jamileh & I became best friends because of that car.  We were always in it together talking & praying.  Hours and hours of our relationship was built while I was picking her up taking her to Church, to her job & back, to school, to the grocery store or where ever she needed to go.

Gave a ride, got a best friend.  You may call it Karma, I call it God’s hand moving & working and blessing.  Ironically enough, that car was totaled in a hit and run accident.  The driver was a Western Michigan University student who was drunk.  Lost the car, but came out alive!  I’ll take that trade any day, eh? 🙂

I was encouraged by that man in his random and small -yet significant- act of kindness.

May we all do likewise, especially in the Christmas season!