When my hair vanity is on display, hats are my go-to. Problem with this declaration is not my messy, untamed hair needing to be hidden, but rather, the exposing of the heavy mane of vanity that crops into my being. However, this week my unruly mop tucked inside my baseball cap struck out for just how pride filled it is. The home run hitter was a true “All Star’s” sleek and shiny head which was slipped inside a soft pink bucket hat and challenging all to look as beautiful as she.
The scene unfolded early morn as I was running into the store because I was running out of my staple blueberries. A car was at the curb and a tiny, frail elderly lady was attempting to maneuver exiting its door. Her eyes radiating joy and her smile speaking gratitude for being out and about was first what drew me into her world. It was then her bucket hat revealed it rested not on top of unruly locks but over the absence of what we ladies call our crowning glory.
Our eyes connected, and her sweet voice chirped, “I love your shoes!”. I answered, “me, too, they are green the color of hope!”. I added, “but today I’m declaring pink, the color or your hat, is also the color of hope.”. We laughed.
Remembering, I was on a fast mission, I was through the door before a moment’s more hesitation. Then, the most miraculous of all shopping events happened. From the long line of stored carts, my hands pulled out one that was perfect. Wheels were perfectly aligned, well-greased and absolutely smooth gliding. Instinctively, I knew God was talking, and I needed to listen. No way was this perfect cart a co-incidence. It had God-incidence written all over it. So, I stopped and asked, “Where to God? You have to be leading.”.
My baseball capped head turned to the sidewalk. There was my “All Star” trying to balance her mangled frame and gain enough traction to attempt a tiny step. Immediately, I knew God sent the perfect cart for her, not me. Positioning the cart into a parking spot from which no one else could claim it, I darted back outside to lend my new hero a hand. Only then did I notice the deformity of her legs. However, not harboring frustration or self-pity but with a pinpoint balance of gratitude, she leaned on her uplifting spirit to hold and carry her.
Apologizing for having run off without realizing there was helping to share, I offered her my arm and added God had her chariot awaiting her. We laughed the entire slow journey to where her “perfect” blessing from God was parked. I asked if I could assist her in any other way; and she assured me the rest the Lord would hold her hand through and challenge her to conquer!!
What I would learn was her husband had not dropped her off to fill a basket with groceries to feed their bodies. She was there to nourish her heart and soul by devouring the sustenance of exercise for her emaciated skeleton. With the crutch of God given support, she crawled the aisle from outside door to cash register and then back again.
As I bid my final words to my newfound sister in Christ, my head was still capped and my hands blueberry filled; but it was truly my heart and soul that were overflowing with the most meaningful of blessings having touched my life — a pink bucket hat protecting a smooth bald head, legs deformed and struggling to balance a hunched over spine. She was a pillar of strength, the noblest of God’s children journeying home to the open and waiting Gates of Heaven. Thank you, God, for gifting me the crossing of our paths…
Uplifted in a Broken Down World 