This is a story I shared last Friday on Facebook:

Many years ago, while living on Guam, Mom (Anicia) would call and loved checking up on us and hearing our stories. She loved them so much, she kept begging us to write about it and share it with the world. I didn’t think that our stories were worth writing about and said, “But Mom, why would anyone want to read that?” She kept urging us to “just write” and “just share” and that “we’ll see.” She’s no longer here on Earth, but I wish I could hear her laughter, excitement, and encouragement when retelling this one I’m about to share with you. Here it goes, Mom:

Over the course of 2020, we’ve experienced deep pain and many fearful, prayerful moments. We, like so many others, experience pain, sadness and uncertainty.  God is good, though, and His faithfulness goes beyond those times of fear and uncertainty. We had an opportunity yesterday to see and experience some of God’s goodness and even be a channel for His goodness.

Due to timing and the plumber checking on the water heater leaking at our rental, Tim and I left later than we had hoped so I could get some more back and neck treatment at the chiropractor’s office. On our way to the chiropractor’s office, Tim turned on his “Island Music” playlist, and the fun begins. 

We laughed and talked while I started heating up because I put on too many layers. I started to take off my vest off, and Tim rolled down the windows. It was nice driving together, enjoying the fresh air blowing against our skin and through our hair. I wanted to wave at people and smile. I wanted to say something to them to help put a smile to their face, but I didn’t want to get yelled at or scare anyone, you know, because I wasn’t wearing a mask in our van. So I kept on smiling, kept on talking with Tim, and decided it’s good enough to smile.

Not too long after I finished the last therapy session, we go to Whole Foods which was like a minute away. We were out of meat, and in our previous orders were not in stock. I put my blue mask on to join Tim shortly after he picked up a few things. Along the way, I greet people as we like to do. This time I wanted to pause and thank some store workers for their service. We often thank other military families and first responders for their service, but we’ve seen, as a nation, that there are so many essential workers throughout our economy including those working in our food supply chain and healthcare workers. I’ve thanked our local grocery workers before but mostly over the phone because that’s where I’ve been shopping from and placing bulk orders with stores.

I started fighting within myself because I know we don’t have a lot of extra funds, but I really wanted to see if we could make it work to buy a gift like flowers for some of the people at the store. As Tim was loading our few grocery items, I took off to the flower section. The flower arrangements were beautiful and so much beyond our budget -- like $14.99 or around there. I wanted to get a lot!

I just felt like I was going to find something we could afford and kept searching. My heart jumped with excitement when I saw $4.99 bouquets! I was so thankful that price range existed at Whole Foods — ha ha — and that more than one was available that late in the day! I fill up my arms with some bouquets and think of what I’m going to tell Tim. He loves blessing others as a family, but, if he was going to be concerned that we didn’t have enough money, I’d use my birthday coming up as a way to buy it. 

Guess what? I didn’t even have to use my birthday wish. I just said, “They’re $4.99!” Tim looks at me with a big smile. Inside my heart I’m so thankful for him and think, “Tim’s love for others and generosity   are some of the things I love about Tim.” We quickly discussed how we could gift them.

On our way out, I thanked some store workers and asked if I could give them a gift. It was so beautiful to hear their delight! I wish we could have stayed longer and even find out their names, but we had to get back home to our babies and also eat. 

The whole time I kept feeling God prompt me to find someone in the parking lot to bless them. I even told Tim the plan when we were paying for the flowers. We walked outside, and there were many people around. Despite that, there she was. I knew it was her.

Tim walked to put away our things in our van not too far off from where I was headed. The older lady I walked towards looked like she had possibly finished work based on her attire. She was about to put her groceries away in the trunk of her car. The only thing I could see was her back, grocery bags, and part of a green plant sticking out from one of the bags. So I thought, “Oh great! I think she’ll like the flowers.”

I said, “Excuse me, can I give you a gift?” After she gladly accepted (I don’t remember the exact sequence anymore) she said a lot of things like, “I love flowers!” She also thanked me profusely and said that the flowers and kind words meant so much to her and that I had no idea how much they meant to her on that very day. Of all the days, God wanted me to bless a random stranger for the first time with flowers in a grocery store parking lot, it had to be yesterday in El Paso, thirty-one years since Lupe lost her baby boy.

She teared up and thanked me for listening to her story. Lupe kept saying she was sorry and wanted to share some more. I told her I had time and was so thankful she shared those things with me and later Tim who came to join us. We were blown away at how much the whole meeting touched all of us. I told Lupe, “This is a gift from God.” I was so touched by the way she kept hugging the bouquet like it was a person so she could show how much she loved them!

Despite the heartaches and tragedies we truly need to keep praying about today, there are some wonderful things we can delight in like giving the gift of love. Can we encourage you instead of getting upset or saying an unkind thing today to rather bless someone — maybe even a random stranger —- without caring whether they’re the same “anything” as you? You might not have $4.99 or a physical gift to give, but you do have words and a voice that can be shared in some way. And you just never know how much an aching heart needs to know someone cares. ❤️

“And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.” 

1 Corinthians 13:13