So after writing the post on generosity the other day I had a funny thing happen. My next door neighbor is a sweet Christian retired couple. They have a little grand daughter that LOVES coming over to play when she is visiting her grandparents. Her name is Carissa and she is 9. Anytime I hear a LOUD knock on the garage door, I know it’s Carissa.
BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG….. I opened the door and there was Carissa standing in our garage wanting to come inside. The day progressed and she just stayed and stayed and stayed. The afternoon quickly turned into the evening. Her grandma usually comes and gets her but this time she didn’t come. Dinner time came and I started working in the kitchen. As I was cooking, I looked behind me and saw Carissa staring at me. Poor girl, I realized she was hungry and wanted to stay for dinner and I hadn’t even invited her! I didn’t have much extra food but I was not about to let this girl watch us eat. I had made shrimp, mashed potatoes, and broccoli. Shrimp is one of my favorite foods and I didn’t have much of it. So with open hands I decided I would just eat mashed potatoes and broccoli for dinner and give Carissa my shrimp.
As we thanked the Lord for the food, I saw Georgia reach over and hold Carissa’s hand during the prayer. Carissa opened her eyes and stared at Georgia and then at Joe while he thanked the Lord for the food. It was one of the sweetest dinners I’ve ever sat at. I could have missed all of that if I had not shared my shrimp…..As she ate, she told me shrimp was her favorite food and that she always eats dinner alone watching tv. She told me that at her house there’s never food in the fridge and then she told me about her parents getting divorced. I could hear sadness as she talked.
When she was leaving the house that night she turned around and told me she loved me. It touched my heart. It doesn’t take much effort at all for kids to know you care about them. Especially kids that haven’t been raised in homes that live out the gospel. I’ve always wanted to adopt a baby but Carissa has opened my heart to adopting an older child. It’s such a beautiful picture of how Christ adopted me when He saved me…… Maybe God was doing this for me instead of Carissa
.
Comments