So the other day...maybe Tuesday...I was picking up a few things, and was waiting in line minding my own business. The guy behind me started talking to me. After talking about the price of potatoes (seriously), he started to tell me about his life.

Now, let me insert here that I am not naive. I know that some or most or all of his story could be made up. But I figured it wouldn't hurt to listen. And he didn't have beer and cigarettes in his cart. He had cottage cheese, crackers, and one plum. So that was a good sign to me as well.

Anyhow...

He said that in May, he lost his brother to cancer. He really wanted to go see him before he died, but his job wouldn't let him off of work. So he walked out of his job and went to see (and a few day later, bury) his brother. When he came home, he had no job. A few days later, his car got stolen. Apparently, it wasn't insured because he had no way to get a new one. He lost his home as well (I assume b/c he couldn't pay for it), and put everything he owned in a storage unit. He had been sleeping in the storage unit until they put double locks on it b/c he wasn't paying.

This man showed me pictures of him with his brother and some other family members (the brother was bald and very bloated...obviously sick). He showed me the papers from the funeral. He showed me his ID card and his last pay stub. He showed me the letter he received (at his PO box) that warned him that his stuff in storage was going to be auctioned off in a month or so.

I don't doubt that this man inflated his story, but I also don't doubt that he is having some hard times.

So me, being the good little Christian that I am (ha!), pulled a tract out of my purse. I tried to show him the plan of salvation (we were in the parking lot at this point), but he kept interrupting me to tell me more about himself. I eventually held up my hand and said, "STOP. You know that money isn't going to make you happy. You know that even if you got a job and a home and a car that you wouldn't be happy. The reason is that you are looking for happiness in all the wrong places." I continued on to tell him the TRUE source of joy.

I wish I could give you some fantastic happy ending of this story...like he got saved in the Wal-mart parking lot. He didn't though. BUT, he took the tract, and was in church this morning and this evening. And let me tell you...that in itself made that 20 minute wait in the Wal-mart line worth every second.

Someday, I'll tell you about my other 1 1/2 homeless men.