While driving home to have lunch and do some work from home, I saw a man at the corner of Florida and Sheridan with a sign that read, “Please Help. Homeless and Hungry.” Unfortunately, I often find myself without cash, in the wrong lane, in a hurry, or skeptical about how the money might be used when encountering these situations. The night before at bedtime, my daughter and I said a prayer asking God to open our hearts to recognize when and who should get the LoveForward money. This time at the intersection, I was in no particular rush, had some cash (specifically earmarked for this moment), and decided to circle around to the parking lot of King Soopers. I parked, said a quick prayer for the courage to go through with the exchange, grabbed the cash and an extra clementine from my backpack. As I was heading over to the man, a woman in a parked car asked me, “Are you going to ask him to leave?” Being in my work clothes, I must’ve looked important, as if I worked at the insurance company store front on the corner or a building manager or something. I said, “No, just gonna give him an orange.” She said, “Well, I was thinking about giving him a sandwich.” She explained that she got an extra Egg McMuffin from McDonald’s because it was buy one, get one free. I offered to deliver it for her. My exchange with the man was fairly brief; I offered him the sandwich, told him it was from the woman in the parked car (who waved back as I pointed), and gave him my clementine and the $5 cash. He smiled and was grateful. I shook his hand, asked him his name, which he told me was “Jeb” and told him, “Enjoy your lunch. God bless you.” And that was it. I don’t have to worry about how he intended to use the money because the money doesn’t belong to me, it belongs to God.
-Aaron Sefton