Like this:

One of my favorite bloggers, Molly Piper, linked to her husband Abraham’s blog. I’m not normally a commenter, but his entry really struck a chord with me today, after having a very similar experience yesterday. I felt compelled to comment, and ended up being an entry on its own.

I hadn’t planned to post this on my blog, but since most of my readers are in San Mateo, if you see David on the corner of 92 and El Camino, maybe you can offer him some temporal, or eternal food as well.

My comment is below:

Very thought provoking.
I had a similar experience this past week. There has been a man, probably my age, maybe a few years older (30 something?) standing at the freeway offramp every day I have driven by on my way to the gym. He holds a simple sign that says “HUNGRY” – usually I’m eating my dinner in the car, only enough food to sustain my work out.  My trunk is full of blankets, but I didn’t know if he was homeless, only that he was hungry.

The funny thing about this man, is his attire. He is dressed really nicely. Black leather jacket, black skinny jeans, shiny glam sunglasses. Leather pointy toed shoes. Spiked hair. The first time I saw him, I told my friends about him. Laughing because it was quite the dichotomy of sights.

But then I saw him again. And once more. So yesterday, I knew I would drive by him again. So I took some food, an apple, a small box of cereal, a ziplock of Easter candy, and then later at the store, two boxes of snack bars, and carried it all day until I planned to drive by him at 5:30pm.

I prayed for him throughout my day. This mystery man with what must be an intriguing story. But when I drove by he was nowhere to be found. I was really disappointed. I prayed that God might show me someone else who could use the food.
I went to the gym, and worked out.

As I pulled out of the parking lot, he was there across the three lane road. In his regular spot. The question became, do I go down to the nearest light, U-Turn and bring him the food? Do I pull into the redzone with cars merging off the freeway onto the busy thoroughfare?  I said a quick prayer and headed south. Then U-Turned at the light, and back north, towards my soon to be hipster friend.

I navigated between people trying to get on and off the freeway, wishing there was a place to park my car and walk the food to him. I rolled down my passenger window, and he turned and saw me. He walked up as I said to him, “Hi, I have seen you the last few days, and wanted to bring you some food.” He lifted up his sunglasses, and I handed him the apple, then the cereal, and candy, and then two boxes of snack bars. He juggled to hold onto them, all the while still halfway in my car window.

To which he replied “Thanks Dude!” I could tell he wanted to engage in more conversation. But I could feel the traffic building up behind me. Cars were trying to merge and I was obstructing their view.

I asked him for his name, and in an accent, probably British, he replied “David, what’s yours?”

“It’s Kim, I’ll be praying for you.” I replied quickly.

“Thanks, I’ll be praying for you too!” he said surprisingly energetically.

“Have a great day!”

And that was it. But I could tell he wanted to share more. I didn’t need an explanation from him, but I think he may have wanted to give one.

After I drove off, I had to evaluate if I really was doing the right thing. Did I make assumptions I shouldn’t have? All I knew for sure was that he was hungry. So I simply could only meet that temporary need.

I questioned if I should have pulled over, parked my car, and walked the food to him, instead of beckoning him to me. Maybe instead of just telling David I’d pray for him, I could have sat and prayed with him. But then, I am a female, for reasons of safety and appropriateness, I didn’t think that was a good idea.  But, was that just me trying to remain comfortable in a potentially uncomfortable situation?

As I drove off, I prayed that God might bestow grace on me, that He might work mightily despite any selfish motives I may have had. That David might offer me a similar grace, should I have unconsciously given him a look of pity or disdain. That I didn’t make time for him. That when I offered to pray for him that it would be genuine, and not just something to say.

I prayed that God would shower His grace on David as well. That the simple food I shared with him could somehow reveal the everlasting food, the nourishing bread of Jesus Christ.

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