Countdown to 400 - #11: A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Park

OK, it really wasn't funny. That's just the title that keeps running through my head.

We went to the park to eat lunch today. As we pulled into a parking space, an old man walked by our car and he looked very confused. The kids jumped right out of the van and ran off and as I was getting Addy out of her car seat and putting her in the stroller, I had this feeling that I needed to stop what I was doing and watch this man. He walked around the fence to the park and over to a busy street. I thought he was going to step into traffic and get hit, he came so close to the road. He stuck his thumb out like he was hitch hiking and I thought, that was strange because he didn't look the type. And I knew there was something wrong with him by the way he was acting, like he really didn't know what he was doing or where he was. I still felt like I should continue watching him and a minute later a bus pulled up (he was standing right next to a bus stop with his thumb out) and he got on. I thought, he probably doesn't have any money and he is going to get out of the bus because the driver won't let him on. The bus sat there for another minute and then it drove off.

For some reason I was very disturbed by the whole thing. It just wasn't right. So I got Addy out of the car and into her stroller and went to find the kids. As I was walking over to where the kids went I saw a man walking around the park like he was looking for something or someone. I thought I needed to go over and ask him if he was looking for that older man. I went to go get my kids to make sure they were OK and then I went over to where I had seen then man looking. He was gone. I looked around and saw him getting into a car and driving away. I thought, hmmm, I must have been wrong. He wouldn't be leaving the park if he had lost someone here.

I still was very bothered by the whole thing and kept going back to the thought that that other man had to be looking for the old man. And I thought maybe he just got in the car to drive down the street and see if he could see him and he would come back to the park in a minute and I could tell him what I saw. I kept watching for him to come back. Time went by and more time went by and it was getting close to time for us to leave the park. I really felt like I needed to do something about that old man. But what was I going to do? Call the police and say, "An old man got on a bus."?

Then I turned around behind me and way far at the back of the park I could see the man who had been looking for something and he was once again looking for something. He had parked in a different parking lot and was behind me where I couldn't see him. So I walked over to him and asked him if he was looking for someone. He said yes. I asked if it was an older man with a white shirt on. He said yes. And I told him what I saw. He said, "He got on a bus?". He asked me what direction it was going and I told him. He thanked me and started to call someone and made his way back to his car.

Whew! I was so relieved.

It made me start thinking about how Heavenly Father works. When someone needs help, it usually comes in the form of another person. That's one of the reasons we're here, right, to help each other? I was so glad that I was listening and that I followed the promptings I received. If I hadn't, I would have been busy getting Addy out and getting the stroller out that I wouldn't have seen that man get on the bus. And who knows what would have happened. I am glad I was able to be an instrument in the Lord's hands today and I am so thankful that I listened to what he was trying to tell me.