Today I was invited to lunch by a friend i have in my English 101 class and his wife. On the way to the restaurant as we encountered a car in front of us that had broken down in the middle of the road. We began to do as the other cars in front of us had and pass the car without a second thought. In the process of passing the car up I realized I knew the woman sitting in the front seat of the car from my ASL class I attend . The look on her face was of worry and concern as she sat stranded in the middle of the street with her one year old buckled up in his car seat. Upon the realization that i knew the person my friend turned the car around and we headed back in the direction of the stranded car. As we pull up to push her car the look on her face was priceless and of thankfulness. Pushing the car only took about five minutes out of our busy day but made all the difference to the young mom and her son.
This occurrence really got me thinking about how often we shove off helping another person because we ether claim to not have enough time or believe someone else will do the things we " do not have time for", and yet little acts of kindness may only take a few minutes out of your crowded life. I think it is incredible how Christ was always thinking of others. Never once did he push aside the need for charity for a selfish thought of " I don't have enough time" . Christ made time for the things that really mattered. This quality is something I am doing my best to work on as I struggle with my busy schedule of school, friend, family, and church. Although I am busy, I know that making time to help others will bless me and help me in my attempts to widen my knowledge. I felt this was a real life example of Good, Better, Best that one of the general authorities talked about i a few conferences back. When we make time for the things that are Best in our lives and try our HARDEST... then we can find strength in knowing Heavenly Father will always make up the difference some how.
Another thought I had from this experience today was the fact that maybe if I had not recognized the person in the drivers seat... maybe we would not have pulled over to help... and yet we all once knew each other when we were in heaven. In a previous general conference talk I can recall the words of an apostle who stated what a beautiful reunion it would be if the Vail were to be lifted right here, right now, and how we would embrace each other because there would not be a single person on this earth we would not recognize. I know this to be true that when we keep in mind that every person on this earth today is a Son and Daughter of God... it gets a whole lot easier to love people in their imperfect state while on this earth. While remembering this I realized that if I were to keep this in mind , how much more willing I would be in my day to day life to help others in their difficult times.
I love The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints with all my heart, and it brings joy to my soul :)
