Ungrateful Bitch

This morning, as I was taking my oldest daughter to school,  we saw a woman walking down the road.  She was wearing sweatpants and a moth eaten sweatshirt.  She was barefoot.  Her hair was matted  and she was just covered in dirt and filth from head to toe.  My daughter, inspired to service, quickly grabbed an extra pair of Nike's, the socks off her own feet, her breakfast (a banana) and her allowance.  She put them all in a Wal-mart sack and insisted I turn the car around.

My daughter hopped out of the car and politely mentioned to the woman that she seemed to have left her shoes at home and wondered if she needed an extra pair for the day.  The woman said, "I don't need any shoes but I could use some breakfast."  My daughter assured her there was food and some cash in the bag.

As we started to drive away, we saw the woman throw the shoes away in the grass, peal the banana and search the bag for money.  

(Side note:  The money was IN the shoes. So that was kind of funny)

I am not going to lie.  My first thought was:

"You ungrateful bitch.  How dare you toss away my generosity!  You embarrassed us and acted like your nasty  feet were too good for our pair of Lady Nike's.  Now we are late for school and work, all for nothing."

I felt the offense deeply for both my daughter and myself.

Deep breaths.  If I allow those emotions to fester, my heart quickly hardens towards the poor.  So I did some emergency reframing of the encounter in my mind.

First of all, the big liar!  She absolutely DID need shoes.  Her feet were disgusting.

Secondly, regardless of her response, we were obedient to God's command to clothe and feed the poor.

The poor owe me nothing.  Not a thank you or a "God bless you" or a smile. Nothing.  You would think I am mature enough after working with the poor for so long that I do not need a visual cue of gratitude.  But I guess I still do.  Charity is humiliating.  Having someone point out that your need is so obvious that we can see it from a moving car 50 feet away must be a kick in the gut. 

So, she only wanted the money... and the banana.  How rude.  So am I justified in the eternity of eyeroll's and scoffing noises that I want to aim her way? Thank God He addressed this early on for stupid people like me.

Mt. 19:20  The young man said to Him, "All these commands I have kept; what am I still lacking?" Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."

Jesus did not say, go get your old pair of shoes and give them away.  Nope.  He said go have a massive garage sale.  Sell your stuff to those who have the money to buy them.  AND GIVE CASH TO THE POOR.  He did not say, "follow the poor people to make sure they don't buy drugs, alcohol or lottery tickets." Nope.  He said very plainly to give them cash... And then I get to have treasure in Heaven.

So it's kind of a win-win.

"Humilty is learned through experiencing humilation with dignity." Mother T.