I'm a jerk.

A month or two ago, a friend of mine told me a story about how he was driving to a friend's house when he came upon a car that had run off the road. He, along with another car full of non-English speaking friends, helped the driver push the stranded car out of the ditch it was in and made sure the car was working. I was pretty pumped to hear this story of selflessness, especially because it involved a language of love more than it did verbal communication, and since then I've asked God to give me opportunities to show His love to others in a similar way. I asked Him to lead me outside my comfort zone and to continue to humble me.

I was driving to church last night for our college ministry's weekly shindig, and I was running a little late. It was raining, and traffic was worse than usual because the storms had blown out the lights at a major intersection on the way to church. As I turned onto a new road, I realized the lady in front of me was stopped even though there was nobody ahead of her...or so I thought.

A guy had pulled onto our side of the road (for a reason I don't know) and his car was dead. He was desperately trying to push it out of the way of the lady in front of me, but he wasn't finding much success on his own. I sat in my car for a minute, watching him and thinking, "I should really help him."

I didn't.

The lady in the car in front of me parked her car and began to help the guy push his car. They were still having trouble. Again, I thought, "I should really help," but I convinced myself that it was a bad idea because A) I was running late for church, and OBVIOUSLY God wouldn't want me to be late for church (yes, that sentence is dripping with sarcasm) and B) I was wearing a dress and heels, and I probably would've flashed dozens of innocent drivers watching the incident from the other lane.

Seriously, those were my excuses to myself.

I kept hearing the Holy Spirit tell me to go, and I kept fighting back. My flesh took over. Anyone who knows me well knows that I can be quite persuasive, but I always know better than to try to persuade myself of anything. I knew that my excuses were, pardon my French, total bull. A) Had I helped, I wouldn't have ended up sitting in traffic for as long as I did, thus actually getting me to church EARLY instead of late, and B) I knew my outfit was cute, and I didn't want to get wet or risk messing up my style for the evening. That's right, I was being totally and completely selfish, proud, and vain. Even in the midst of the whole situation, I was pretty disgusted with myself. Instead of being a Good Samaritan, I chose to be the priest. I chose to acknowledge my Father with my mouth, but to ignore Him with my actions.

The good news is that the woman and man were able to safely push the car out of the way, and we all got along with the rest of our evenings. Some more good news is that I learned more than I could imagine from this ten minute ordeal, and I know I don't ever again want to feel like I did after being such a jerk. More good news--I know God will give me (and you) other opportunities to make His glory known to our neighbors through simple acts of love and service. Love God. Love others.

Try it.

Peace and Love,

Lo B.