Paid in Full
*True story:
She took her dog to a nearby state park for exercise at the end of a long rainy day. On the way home, she ran into Kroger to pick up a few things. The few things turned into a cart full. Since it was nearly closing time, she hurriedly scanned each item and tapped the “pay now” button. As she opened her little crossbody bag to grab a piece of plastic, she found only her cell phone and driver’s license. She discovered she had no Discover, no Visa, no Mastercard, no cash, no checkbook. Nothing. She had no way to pay for her groceries.
What should she do? She asked the nearby attendant if she could run home and get her wallet. He walked away to ask a manager. A woman at the next register offered to pay half—a very generous gesture! But half wouldn’t cut it. The man in line behind her, holding three items, asked what the trouble was, and she frantically explained her predicament. He offered to pay her bill.
“No, no, no! I can’t let you do that. I have never been in this situation. My family always pays. We are the ones who help others. Maybe I should just put everything back and come back tomorrow. Oh, I can’t believe I don’t have my card in here. It’s too much. I can’t let you do that.”
“Ma’am, I’ve got my card right here. Please let me do this for you.”
So, as the story goes, he paid her debt and disappeared into the night. The woman remained dumbfounded. By the time the attendant returned with an answer from the manager, the stranger had solved her problem. As the woman pushed her cart to the parking lot with her bill paid in full, the kindness of a total stranger filled her soul.
The woman then tells me, “As I thought of how grateful I was and so indebted to this stranger, it hit me how much more indebted I am to Jesus for paying my sin debt, which I could never pay–ever! I’m just blown away by the grace of this stranger and by God’s grace towards us.”
*The woman in the story is my Aunt Ellie, my mom’s youngest sister, the one who took me to visit Great Aunt Helen in Detroit a couple of weeks ago. If you know the man who paid my aunt’s bill at the Kroger in Northville, Michigan, please thank him for us.
Have you been on the receiving end of an act of kindness? Please share your story.