Pay It Forward
written by: Doug Bartlett
The wealthy woman was on her way to spend Christmas with her children and grandchildren when she found herself stranded in her Mercedes on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. It was beginning to get dark and she was starting to get fearful.
A few cars passed her in the last three hours but didn’t even slow down let alone stop.
Finally, John, a young man, stopped, and she ensured her door was locked. Nervously, she lowered her window down about a third of the way.
“What seems to be the problem?” he asked.
“I have a flat tire.”
“If you open your trunk I think I can help you.”
She opened the trunk remotely from inside her vehicle.
He got out the spare tire and jack and crawled under the car looking for where the jack could be attached. He got dirty as he crawled under the car and scraped his knuckles a few times before being successful. When he was finished he closed the trunk and tapped on her window.
She lowered the window partially, thanked him, and asked him how much she owed him. While she had sat there waiting she was thinking of all the negative things that could have happened to her and decided whatever the price it would be worth it.
She tried very hard to get John to accept payment but he refused. He told her if she had to do something then she should pay it forward, helping someone else. John then disappeared into the darkness.
The lady continued on her journey until she approached a roadside diner. She was hungry so she pulled in. As she ordered her dinner she noticed the waitress was pregnant and thought about her standing on her feet and working all day probably for minimum wage and tips. While she ate by herself she thought about the true meaning of Christmas, not about Santa and gift-giving, but about God and what He had given.
She paid her bill but when the waitress came back with her change she had already discreetly left.
There was an envelope left on the table. The writing on the envelope said “I wanted you to have all my change and also the money that I left for you in this envelope. Merry Christmas.”
The waitress opened the envelope to discover ten, crisp, one-hundred-dollar bills inside. It took her breath away and she had to sit down for a while to regain her composure.
She thought this was an answer to prayer as her husband had been out of work and they were just scraping by and now next month they would have a newborn baby to take care of. Up to this point they didn’t know how they were going to make it. But now, suddenly, things have changed.
When she had arrived home she found her exhausted husband asleep in the recliner. He had been out all day looking for work. She slipped the envelope full of money in his hand and kissed him on the forehead which woke him up. She then said, “We have nothing to worry about now John, our prayers have been answered.”
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