Friday, March 21, 2008

Great Is Your Reward In Tacos

"So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you." ~Matthew 6:2-4

We've all heard the saying, "great is your reward in heaven".

But sometimes a nice little reward of tacos sounds good, don't you think? Or some carne asada burritos? Or even some crispy tostadas with fresh guacamole?I was greeted with a wonderful surprise when I walked in the door from work tonight. I was greeted by my husband, and my husband only. Jon's mom had taken the kids to her house to color Easter eggs, an annual tradition she has done with the kids since Daniel was a toddler. (Side note: I have never colored an Easter egg in my life! And Olivia ate a dye-tablet tonight.)

We took advantage of the rare, childless moment, and went out to a quick dinner at a restaurant close to our house. When we walked in, a young waiter looked at me and smiled. I instantly recognized him, but couldn't remember from where. When we sat down at our table, he came over and said hello. Then it all came back to me!

Flashback:
About two months ago, I witnessed a pretty bad car accident, which happened right in front of me. I checked on the vehicles to make sure everyone was ok. There was a hispanic woman who was pretty shaken up and crying hysterically. She had two toddlers and a baby in the back seat. I stayed with her and managed to calm her and her kids down. After a while, I asked her if she was on her way to pick up a child from school. She said yes, and wrote down the child's name. Three schools and one hour later, I finally found the boy who was waiting for his mom to pick him up. He was a sophomore at West High, which is quite funny, because the mother told me he was in second grade (I guess she meant 2nd grade in high school). So all along I was looking for this little boy. Anyways, I told the boy what had happened and that I would take him to the scene of the accident. I guess having my 3 kids in the back seat convinced him I wasn't going to abduct him. He was such a polite boy, and very thankful. When we got to the accident, he lovingly took care of his mom and younger siblings and gave the police officers all the information they were needing. I was so impressed with his maturity and concern for his family. You don't come across many 16 year olds like that.

Back to Tonight:
As we finished our dinner, he came over to our table and handed me our bill. He opened it up, and said, "here, this is for you". I looked at the bill, it said $0.00 and there was also a gift certificate for $25! He got teary-eyed as he told me how much he appreciated what I had done for him and his family. I tried to tell him it was no big deal, but he insisted we take the gift. We were blown away! What a kind young man. And what a blessing for Jon and I.

See, sometimes God does reward with tacos!

11 comments:

Michelle said...

Tears are welling up in my eyes! What a precious story!

Jonathan said...

So cool.

Rachel said...

Liz, you are such a wonderful person! I am so glad everyone was okay, and that they had you there to take care of them. But I did have to laugh that her little boy ended up being 16.
You have the best heart!

Tiffany said...

With the experiences I've had through work and my husband's work it is hard to remember there are good people in the world...simply good with no strings attatched. Stories like this help remind me of such a fact. How nice that you went out of your way that day to help a family you didn't know, and how wonderful that an unexpected reward for it came in the form of a special gift from that boy. I'm sure he was filled with pride to be able to give it to you also!

Stefanie said...

Wow, Liz, what a great story. I'm so glad you blog, because you have wonderful stuff to share - all because of who you are...

I tend to take the careful route sometimes with strangers when it comes to getting really involved. You teach me to listen to the spirit more and get in there...

Happy Easter

Angela said...

What a great great story!
Happy Easter!!!

I wish we were going to be together!

Lindsay said...

What an awesome story! Thanks for sharing!

Christi said...

I love that. God shows us His coolness in the most unexpected ways sometimes.

Lindsay said...

HE is fond of you!! :)

Happy Easter!

Stacey Munro said...

How great. God cares so deeply for us and all of the details in our life. He knows when we need free tacos and special time with our spouse.
Thanks for the note on my blog. Continue to be inspired by Him.
Do you guys want to come for a visit? Anytime!
ps: what color was the dye tablet? kids!!!

Kersten said...

What a beautiful story!