God in a handful of change

A few days ago, I took an awesome little mini-vacation.  I set out at Wednesday morning around 8:00am for Wilmington with my two dear friends, Eliza and Abbe (check out Eliza's blog--she's crafty and awesome!).  We headed to the beach with no real plans except for getting some sun and hanging out with one another.  So, we drove until the map turned blue.


As we drove into Wilmington, we had to pick a beach.  I picked Carolina Beach for us.  We were following the directions from my iPhone, and eventually, we just decided to pick a public access place and stop.  But there were only meters, and we didn't have enough change for the hours that we were going to be there.  So, we drove until we found one of those fancy meters that took cards.  Then, the ocean was all ours!


It was so fun to go to the beach with Abbe and Eliza.  It turns out that all three of us love to play in the water as much (if not more) as we do just laying out by the ocean.  We just floated and jumped over waves and talked about life and how much we love the movie Tangled.


After laying out some and reading our books (Me--Mockingjay for the second time, Abbe--Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, and Eliza--Wuthering Heights), we decided to head into downtown Wilmington for some shopping/sightseeing/strolling.

We stopped and got some yummy lunch at The Reel Cafe.  We were very hungry and thirsty after spending all morning on the beach.  After eating lunch we headed out to wander around town.  We walked away from The Reel Cafe, heading to do some shopping and sightseeing.  However, as we were walking, we remembered our car.  Parked at a meter.  Which we had emptied all our change into.  And which would run out before we were done wandering downtown.  

Eliza, Abbe, and I stopped to ponder our predicament.  It really wasn't much of a problem--one of us just needed to go into a store and buy something, receiving some change in the process.  We pulled out our purses and looked at how much change we still had (approximately $0.23) and decided that one of us would go in one of the local shops.  

About this time the craziest thing happened.  A homeless man came up to us.  He must have heard our conversation, since he asked us, "Need change for the meter?" We didn't quite know what to say when all of the sudden this man who did not have a home began digging in his pockets for some of his change to give us.  All three of us were truly surprised.  The man pulled out approximately $1.25 in change and gave it to us.  We tried to give him a few dollars in exchange for the change, but he wouldn't accept it, and he wouldn't let us walk away without taking his change.  We thanked him and walked away stunned

As we walked back to the meter, Abbe said, "Okay, so who feels like a total jerk for taking change from a homeless man?"  Eliza and I both chimed in that she had expressed our thoughts exactly.  While previously we had been chatting and laughing, all of us walked rather silently down the streets pondering this man who had given so freely to us.  None of us were quite sure what to do.  Even though we proceeded on with our trip, I think I can speak for all three of us when I say that that man's generosity remained prominent in our thoughts throughout our adventures.

After putting the money in the meter, we continued walking around Wilmington.  We saw some awesome art someone had painted on a local building that had been boarded up:

Those windows and that storefront are completely painted on plywood that had been used to board up the building. 

We also went into my favorite used bookstore in the world in downtown Wilmington.  I adore used bookstores (and books in general) so I really enjoyed getting to wander through these stacks of books.  I saw this sign, which I will duplicate some day when I have a home of my own with a library that has a ladder.  Because I will.

We also got quotes vended to us from a bubble gum machine and saw Wilmington's first literary jukebox (which was turned off).  

After leaving the bookstore, we headed back to get some ice cream.  On the way, however, we stopped. The homeless man who had given us his change was doing a magic show that consisted of card tricks.  There were a couple of others gathered to watch, so we stopped and applauded as well.  After the others had left, we thanked him again for giving us the change for our parking meter earlier and showing us such generosity.  Then we were able to give him some money as well, repaying him and blessing him just as he had blessed us.  

As we walked away, we talked about how little the man had and how what he had shared with us would have been a major portion of his income for the day.  We all mentioned that we were grateful to have encountered him again.  As Eliza said, we felt that we were able to "complete the circle of blessing."  He had blessed us and we, in turn, were able to bless him. 

My words are failing me, blog friends.  But I doubt that Eliza, Abbe, or I will ever be able to forget how freely this man gave without expecting anything in return.  And he didn't give out of abundance--he gave out of the little bit that he had (kind of like the widow in Mark 12:41-44).  I don't think words do it justice--our giving to him in no way rivaled his generosity towards us.  I'm not trying to pat us on the back--I wish I could express how much we were challenged and reproved for our prior lack of generosity.  

I never expected that on a day trip to Wilmington, we would see God in a handful of coins for the parking meter.