When my wife shops, it is not unusual for her to be gone for several hours at a time. Her lengthy trips are not because she spends money frivolously, but rather they take a long time because she is always trying to get the best deal possible. The other night she was on one of these trips while I stayed home with the kids. I don’t usually start to worry until she has been gone well over an hour, so when the phone rang a half hour into her trip, I was a little concerned that something had gone wrong. “I’m getting some hamburgers and I need you to stay on the phone with me,” she said as soon as I answered.
“Okay,” I replied, not sure why my voice needed to accompany her on a burger run. I was confused, however, since I had taken the kids out for burgers the day before. It wasn’t like we were in any kind of burger slump at the moment and we really didn’t need more for dinner.
“I ran into this guy in the parking lot and he asked if I could buy him some food or let him follow me home and do some work on the house,” she began. “Since I had just gotten a bunch of stuff for free at the store, I thought that God was checking to see if I could turn my bargain into generosity.”
“So where are you now?” I asked.
“I’m in the drive thru. He had his wife and two little kids with him so I thought I would get them some burgers”
“I’m glad you chose the food option over the follow-you-home option,” I reassured her. I listened as she placed the order and then added, “I’m proud of you.” My wife is not exactly a people-person. She is actually quite shy in social situations and to step out of that comfort zone and do something nice for strangers was a really big step for her. As I mentioned before, she is also very careful with money. To spontaneously give money to a stranger without figuring out where in our budget it will come from was another big step.
She explained to me that the family was in a red car and they would meet her in the parking lot after she got the food. It seemed that she was handling things in a safe manner and as long as she stayed in the car, I wasn’t too concerned. I did, however, stay on the phone to make sure she was safe. Not only was I impressed that she was stepping out of her comfort zone, but she was also listening to God’s prompting. As she made her way through the line, I heard her pay for the meal and pull out to the parking lot.
“I don’t see the car,” she said.
“Look around for a minute,” I replied.
“They were going to drive over from the store and meet me here,” she responded. After several minutes there was still no sign of the red car, the man, or his wife and kids. “Do you want a burger?” she asked.
“I’m always up for a burger,” I replied. “Come on home.” As she drove home we speculated about what might have happened to the family. The most logical explanation was that it was all a scam and the family wasn’t really hungry, they just wanted money. When my wife offered to buy them food, they pretended to be polite, then went off in search of someone else who would just buy their way out of a good deed. With her confidence in mankind shaken, she drove home with one eye in the mirror to make sure the creep wasn’t following her.
Despite the fact that her good deed was not appreciated, there is still a valuable lesson in this story: Never waste a good burger.
