By Chelsea Pollard
For someone who doesn’t listen to modern country much, one of my favorites is Humble and Kind by Tim McGraw. The tune is lovely, but I mainly appreciate the reminder.
I’d like to believe that I don’t really need the reminder because this isn’t a problem for me. I think I’m a very kind person! I don’t think I’m prideful, so I’m already humble? As much as I hate to admit it, I am humbled very often. It mainly shows me that it’s my attitude and my mindset that is flawed. Now, it’s just up to me to learn from it.
The most recent event happened while I was at work. I run a small cafe in a medical building and normally, I close at 4 pm but I decided I wanted to leave just a few minutes early. I figured I could have everything finished and leave around 3:45. It’s only a 15 minute head start to get home, but that sounded nice! A little after 3, a woman came up and started asking all kinds of questions. She was alone, around 60 years old and in a wheelchair, so she couldn’t see the displays very well. She started asking about the drinks, the lunch items, the snacks, the whole nine. She wanted to know what they were, the ingredients, the sugar content and I was totally fine with that! But the minutes started to drag on and I was getting a little annoyed. Like come on, I want to leave a little early! How dare she.
Well, this conversation unfolded like they usually do. We started to learn more about each other, like where we are from and what brought us here. We’re both transplants, so we talked about how much we liked our town and enjoyed living in the south, her being from the north and me from the west. Talked about how crazy we thought the world was and we just wish we could be united again, live in peace with everyone. At some point in the conversation, she asked me “Are you a woman of faith?” I told her I was. She didn’t go much into detail, but what I gathered is that she is very spiritual. She kept telling me to “never lose faith.” She told me about her life and the health issues she had when she was very young and how that led her to where she was. She had cancer and diabetes in her early 20s, but she was grateful and said she was blessed. She beat the cancer, she lost all her weight and even though that put her in a wheelchair, she felt blessed.
She had to take medical transport to get to her appointment and the reason she was “talking my ear off”, was because she was waiting for her ride and boy, how they were making her wait. She never complained, she was extremely pleasant, she was so positive and excited about everything we were talking about. Once 3:45 hit, she decided to call her ride again, get an ETA on the driver. I knew I needed to start closing up so I told her it was lovely talking to her, but she quickly got on her phone call. I wanted to give her her privacy so I stepped into the back for just a moment, but when I came out, she was on her way out the door. Then I noticed that she had left me a gift, right by my register. It was a beautiful necklace, a cross with small heart wrapped around it. Cue the humbling.
I genuinely enjoyed our conversation and I just couldn’t believe that I was annoyed, inconvenienced even. Here was this beautiful soul, having a conversation with me, but that’s not how I saw it. Not at first, anyway. I realized just how selfish I was being, like it wasn’t worth my time. I have loved getting to know people at my job for the last year and a half, so you’d think I’d know by now. But at times, I need to be reminded. Especially as Christians, it’s important to not only see the person, but the soul and treat them as such. In a sermon, Hiram Kemp said “Every time we look at the face of another human being, we are seeing an extension of God’s love.” That really stuck with me, especially after that day.
“Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith.“ Galatians 6:10
She was still waiting outside as I left. I made sure to stop, tell her how much I appreciated the sweet gift and appreciated her. Once again, she told me to never lose faith. I will remember her and try my absolute best to keep the mindset that God wants me to have for His creation.
“Don’t take for granted the love this life gives you
When you get where you’re going don’t forget turn back around
And help the next one in line
Always stay humble and kind.”
Life and Favor (Job 10:12) 