Napoleon Hill
For me, there is no such thing as a typical day. Every day holds the potential for the extraordinary to happen. I must be tapped into whatever it is that brings about the extraordinary in life.
I want to share with you the story of Ms. Julia and the Tiniest Teddy.
Now, on to the story! :)
This past Friday morning, May 11, 2012, I left home with 30 teddy bears contained in the two pretty, colorful cotton bags I made, cleaned and ready to be delivered to the hospital emergency department. The day before, I had placed in my car, a very tiny teddy bear. It sat in front of me on the lower area of the dashboard, between the two front seats. It wasn't the first time I have kept a little teddy in the car with me and it surely won't be the last time, either. Little did I know this particular little bear wouldn't stay in the car very long.
It was quiet as I entered the ER. Smiling, I nodded to the security guard as I passed the checkpoint, carrying the two bags, bulging with teddies. I followed through on my delivery procedure. As I walked through the door to leave the hospital, I noticed a lady standing by the exit wearing a hospital ID bracelet, holding a plastic bag of personal belongings and two containers of some sort of cold beverage in her hands. A large, black pocketbook was slung over her shoulder.
The full-figured, elderly black lady, perhaps five feet, three inches tall, asked me in her very Southern accent if I would drive her home. I was taken aback by her rather blunt question. Curious, I began to ask her some questions. "Do you not have any family or friends on the way to pick you up?" Her reply was "no". I asked her "how did you get to the hospital?" She replied, "the EMT's brought me and I don't have no way to get home. I just live down the road a little ways. Do you know where the Food Lion is?" After a moment, I knew the general area of which she referred. "Sometimes, when I feels good, I walk to the store. I'm 72 years old, but I can still walk and make my way around without too much trouble," she proudly proclaimed. She didn't want pity.
She told me she has no children and her husband is deceased. She appeared uncomfortable talking about the fact that she had no one to rely upon to take her home.
She introduced herself and with a toothless smile she told me "I'm not scared of you. Whether you take me home or not, Jesus will make sure somebody take me home. He always has before and He will this time, too." I replied to Ms. Julia, "I'm not scared of you either." I noticed the sudden, rapid beating of my heart, knowing that I'm not in the habit of picking up people, realizing that there can be a risk involved when a stranger gets in the car. As I observed her personality, I surmised that she was unequivocally a good person. She seemed harmless. The thought of any potential danger suddenly left me and I knew that as much as she trusted Jesus to provide transportation for her, I trusted Him, also to keep me safe.
All the while Ms. Julia talked to me, I felt the Holy Spirit letting me know that I would be safe and that taking her home was the right thing to do.
"Ok, you stay here and I'll bring my car around to pick you up," I assured her. Ms. Julia smiled and nodded her head, obviously relieved to be leaving the hospital. I had no idea how long she had been a patient. As I walked across the parking lot, carrying my Nan's Good Will tote bag over my shoulder, I wondered as to how the upcoming event would unfold. I don't remember ever driving a stranger home before, but somehow, Ms. Julia didn't seem like a stranger at all.
When I pulled the car up to the building, she opened the passenger door of my Honda Accord and placed her large black pocketbook and the bag with her personal belongings on the back seat and shut the door. She adjusted the positions of the beverage containers as she opened the front passenger door. I held out my hand to take the containers from her while she got in the car. Her short arms had to stretch out to reach the door to close it. I felt as though I should have gone around and closed the door for her, but she strained forward, shut it and buckled up. As I handed the containers to her one at a time, she wiped the drips from them onto her tee shirt. "I make sure not to get your car dirty," she offered. "God will reward you for what you doin'" Ms. Julia assured me. "I ain't even got my teeth in and I look a mess", she told me. I replied, "you look fine to me", as we smiled at each other.
"I want to tell you how I came to be at the hospital this morning," I shared. She seemed interested, as I drove away from the hospital grounds. I turned my car in the direction of the Food Lion she mentioned earlier. She was touched as I told her about how my teddy bear ministry came to be and the fact that I was there making a delivery when she stopped me as I exited the hospital. "God put you here this morning to take me home! Praise Jesus!, she exclaimed.
Ms. Julia guided me to her apartment complex. As I pulled into the parking spot and stopped the car, I told her "I can't let you leave "empty-handed". I reached down and took the tiny teddy bear from its location where it had been obviously unobserved by Ms. Julia as we rode down the street. Ms. Julia looked quite surprised. I told her to wait in the car. As she held the tiny teddy, I retrieved a copy of the poem I wrote that accompanies the teddies, from the tote bag in the trunk of my car. Then I opened the rear passenger door and took out Ms. Julia's large, black pocketbook and her bag of belongings.
As she opened the car and got out, she pulled out the key to her apartment. I followed her to the door, carrying her stuff and the poem. As she unlocked the door, she told me "now don't be scared when you come in. I'm a country girl and I wants to get back to the country." I didn't know what to expect as she opened the door. Much to my surprise, there was no furniture in the living room. The fireplace screen was lying flat on the floor in front of the darkened fireplace. There were no curtains on the windows. The carpet was in need of attention.
Ms. Julia continued on into the kitchen where she placed the two beverage containers on the clean counter. "I'm setting your pocketbook and your bag on the counter here," I told her as she looked out of the curtain-less kitchen window. There was no table or chairs upon which to set her belongings.
She walked to the back door and opened it. I opened the envelope containing my poem and said to her, "I want to share my poem with you. I don't know how good your eyes are, so I can read it if you would like." "Read it to me, baby," she said as she smiled at me. She came up beside me as I read the poem aloud. I could tell that she was touched by the story of how Nan's Good Will Bears came to be. She laughed at the funny part. I handed the poem and the envelope to her. "I want you to have this poem and the little teddy bear", I told the lady whose beautiful black skin appeared to be younger than her years. "Thank you, baby", was her reply.
"Every morning I get up, and I come in here and look out this window and say 'thank you God for another day'. Thank you, Jesus! He wake me up every morning. You don't wake me up. Nobody wake me up but Jesus." Ms. Julia raised her hands towards the mid-morning sunbeams streaming through the kitchen window. As she praised God, she became very excited.
She picked up the tiny teddy bear and clutched it to her bosom. She became emotional as she shared her story. A visit with her doctor revealed colon cancer. She told me that after he had left the room, she went down on her knees. The doctor was alarmed when he returned, seeing her on the floor. "Ms. Julia are you ok?", he asked. No response came from her. She didn't look up. "Ms. Julia, are you ok?", he asked a second time. Her lips moved in silence. When she finished praying, Ms. Julia told him as the tears ran down her face, "I didn't want to get up til I was done praying." She smiled at me as she shared her story. Not once did she complain, nor did she tell me more about the cancer.
The kitchen was clean, but to say it was sparsely stocked would be an understatement. The electric stove was missing two of the burners. As Ms. Julia continued praising God, I couldn't help but wonder. With no children and apparently no other family to help support her, who took away the furniture? Would she be leaving the apartment very soon? Why was the opened cupboard empty? Did she have enough food? She didn't ask for anything from me. She offered no explanation. I didn't ask questions. She was already uncomfortable at the hospital when I quizzed her about the absence of family or friends to come pick her up. It was a very sensitive subject for her. I just listened as she spoke of her faith.
She opened up her large black pocketbook and pulled out a New Testament stuffed with papers and then she pulled out another book of the same size. I couldn't read what was on the cover. "I never goes anywhere without my Bibles. I'm 72 years old and Jesus always with me", she said as tears fell from her cheeks. Ms. Julia began to talk about hugs and handshakes. "When somebody shake your hand, they better mean it and when they gives you a hug, they better hug you like they mean it!, she exclaimed. She talked about the shape the world is in today where people go around not seeing and not caring about their fellow man. "My brother was a deacon. He was a good man. He dead now," she said as she wiped the tears. I noticed her navy blue tee shirt was dampened by the tears that fell from her chin.
At one point, her feet left the floor as she praised God, dancing around, praising God. I was touched by her gestures, but I was not afraid. Perhaps she was not currently involved with a church family, but her faith in God was unshakable amidst adversity.
"I have to go now, Ms. Julia," I offered as she paused to take a breath. "Ok, baby girl. I know you can't stay. Thank you so much for bringing me home," she replied as she grinned her toothless grin. "God bless you, baby!", was her response.
I wondered when was the last time Ms. Julia received a hug. She spoke of hugs and handshakes earlier. I looked into her soft, damp eyes and held out my arms to her. Twenty years my senior, she stood there in her kitchen, looking into my eyes and came into my arms. We held each other in Christian love, neither one aware of the time of the day, nor caring. Time stood still as Ms. Julia and I shared the embrace. It was a perfect moment that would have never happened had I not trusted God for safety and assurance that it was ok to drive her home.
Ms. Julia was a wonderful teacher even when she wasn't aware of it. Because I let go of the fear of a "negative what if" and embraced the will of God, I am able to share this beautiful story with you today.
I have thought of Ms. Julia a lot since we met. I am not worried about her. I know our God and her faith will sustain her. God will continue to place people in her path who will give her aid as needed, just as He placed me in her path on Friday to drive her home from the hospital. I will keep her in my prayers.
Interestingly, at church yesterday, Pastor Mike shared a passage from 1 John 4:7-21, as he shared his "Mother's Day" message with the congregation. The title of the sermon was "Love Each Other". I smiled as he read the verses, knowing and relishing in the moment as he read, speaking of Knowing God Through Love, Seeing God Through Love, The Consummation of Love, and Obedience by Faith.
I lived it on Friday morning, simply because I let my own faith in God be my guide.
"Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." 1 John 4:11
