“Vintage Neighbors?"

All of the sudden the car stopped. I was driving and even though I had my foot on the accelerator and was pushing down, the car was suddenly slowing down. Fortunately, no one was behind me, so I used the little power that the car had left and tried to pull off the road the best I could. I was driving my grandmother's car, as she was to tired. I had gone up to visit her for her birthday and we had run some errands and gone out for a drive. I think it must be a “generational thing” but my grandmother loves to go for drives. She just loves us to just drive her around. I do not know why but she finds it so relaxing to just drive around. Where I only drive to get myself from point A to point B.

As the car came to a complete stop, she asked what was going on. I said “I do not know, the car just stopped.” I tried to turn the key but the engine just would not start. We switched places and she tried but the engine did not move at all. I felt horrible. I was trying to help my grandmother and bring her some joy for her birthday and our car had just “died” in the middle of the road. We managed to find her roadside assistance number and she called them. I was just enjoying the warm day sitting in the warm sun. My grandmother was freaking out but for some reason I knew that it was all going to work out. The Lord gave me lots of peace in the moment. I looked outside and saw some people starting to cross the street towards us. I did not dawn on me that they were coming to help until they asked us if we needed help. I had seen them but did not think that they would stop. I got out of the car as my Grandma was still on hold.

If I was to describe this couple I would say that they looked like they listened to country music and occasionally enjoyed a cold beer . The husband had on jeans, cowboy boots, an old shirt that has the sleeves cut off in a rugged fashion (this allowed all his arm tattoos to be exposed) and last but not least a well used sun dyed cowboy hat. The wife also had on jeans with holes (not the “fashionable” one you buy at Nordstrom for $100 but the wear and tear type of holes) and a pale blue scrub top that had different paint color stains on it in an asymmetrical fashion. She had on a hat with a big cross with large rhinestones. They were so kind and asked if they could help push our car to the driveway that was behind us. We agreed this would be a good idea. Another neighbor who was driving up the street also stopped when he saw us pushing. We all managed to get the car out of the way.

My grandma was finally able to reach the town truck and he was going to come in an hour. However, the problem was how were we going to get back home from the mechanic. As my Grandma asked me this the “wife” said “I can take her to get her car.” We all agreed that this would be the best decision. She pulled her car up and off we went. I must admit that their was a moment when I was like “Maribeth, this is really not a good ideas.” My mother's voice was suddenly in my head from when I was a child saying “never get into the car with a stranger.” For all I knew this women was a stranger. But I felt like I had no other option but to trust her; unless I wanted to walk home (which would have probably taken an hour. I could have done it, but I knew my grandmother would not be able to). I said a quick prayer of protection and I clicked my seat belt. We had a really nice conversation on our way to my grandma's house. I got my car and we all met up again at the side of the road. The tow truck still had not arrived. The friendly couple said that if we needed anything we could just ring their doorbell. We thanked them for all their help and waited in my grandmother’s car as their house was just a few yards away.

After 45 minutes of sitting in the car, the tow truck came.  I  got into my car with my grandma and drove, following the tow truck to the mechanic. Since it was a Friday the mechanic said that he was not going to be able to look at the car until Monday. So after we explained what had happened, I took grandma to the store so she could get some things she needed since she was not going to have a car for a few day. We then arrived safely at her house after this crazy adventure, I was glad that I was able to be with Grandma during this time and that she was not alone. I drove back home that night. I called her the following Monday afternoon and she was happy to report that her car was fixed and at her house. I was glad that all things considered it was an “easy” fix.

As I was driving back home I had a few hours to reflect on what had happened. The truth is that we have lost the notion in our culture of being neighborly. We hardly ever see our neighbors or help them for that matter. But the truth is that it is so important to bring this “vintage” idea back to our culture.  I have many times heard lots of older people talk about how some of their closest friends where their neighbors. However, I feel like in current times this idea is the exception not the rule. Many times it is just the simple things that neighbors would do for each other. I was challenged by the goodness of this couple to really take seriously the idea of being neighborly and going out of our way to help each other out as much as we can. Hope that this blog challenges you to be more of a “vintage” neighbor.

Dirty Heart

You are probably thinking at this point, “ok MB we get the dirty reference…maybe you should move on.”  I know that it might be cliché, but God is really speaking to me through this analogy. So please bear with me J  This is another blog from my mission trip to El Salvador.

“Once again the assembly line was put together. This time we knew how to make meals for the homeless and our spirits where high. We all laughed and talked as we put together the meals. This time we made 200 meals. Little did we know what the Lord was going to do that night.

We once again all loaded up in the truck. I, for some reason, sat between my uncle and the girls' basketball coach. Needless to say it was a Maribeth sandwich. But I felt safe. I knew that as the truck took all the sharp turns I was not going to fly out by any stretch of the imagination. The missionary's mentality is that they feed everyone. Homeless, prostitutes, gang members, etc. I really like this approach because Jesus would not discriminate so why should we.

Our first stop had around 40 people; many of them women with small children. My heart was torn at such a sight. After feeding them we drove on and stopped to feed a prostitute. My uncle reached out to give her the bag of food and said “Jesus te ama” “Jesus loves you.” She abruptly stopped, turned around, astonished at such a declaration. She looked at us with a confused look. Her face was pale and her dark eyes looked lifeless. You could tell that years of lies, darkness and lust did not add up to a man saying in a polite and respectful way that Jesus loved her. My uncle, being the gentleman he is, repeated his previous statement. She still looked at us with such unbelief and tangled thoughts.  Our prayer that night was that if this was the first time someone told her that she was loved by Jesus, she would be able to find a way out of prostitution and into God’s arms.  

We keep on driving and stopped and fed three other prostitutes. When they came up to the truck my heart went out to them. I wanted to hug them and tell them that Jesus loved them with a love that does not want to take off their clothes but wanted to clothe them in righteousness. The truck started up and I was not situated in my spot. I instinctively leaned into my uncle, I knew that he had my back and that He would do anything to keep me safe. At that moment I realized that these girls probably never felt any of the caring love that I was feeling. I wanted to tell them how they need to put their hope in Jesus.

Our world is full of people with dirty hearts that do not have the light of Jesus. It is because of these dirty sinful hearts that prostitution exists. It is so important that we start to bring hope and life into the hearts of people around us. Our world needs Jesus. It is that simple. Would we be motivated to get out and start to share of the love, forgiveness and hope that only Jesus and His cross can give? Might these “dirty hearts” be transformed with righteousness by the power of the Holy Spirit?

If you want to find out more about the work being done in El Salvador visit http://allblessingswest.blogspot.com Thanks!