"The Lord Will Provide"

I'll likely never forget this story. It was the end of my first day working at the pawn shop. I was emotionally wrecked. I had never been exposed to so many people who were so in need of help, nor had I ever felt so helpless to do anything for them. I felt horrible.

My wife had come to pick me up, and as I got into the car she pointed out to me an elderly man whom was standing at the front door of the store. My wife had been noticing him for a few minutes. He got off a city bus, and with a cane in hand, very slowly walked about 100 yards to where he was standing now; in front of our closed pawn shop. In his hands were a couple of items that I assumed he would have wanted to use as collateral for a loan.

"Sorry, we just closed" I shouted. He was hard of hearing, so I climbed back out of the car and went over to him. "We're closed, is there anything I can help you with?" I asked. And in his sweet crackling voice he said "oh, I was just needing some bread and milk and things." I offered to take him up the street to the next pawn shop and he accepted. So we loaded up and drove down to Gold Exchange. Although I knew in my heart that they wouldn't be interested in his merchandise. It was an old folding knife and a dremel accessory set.

"Sorry, we can't help you." said the man behind the counter. I was so grieved by this. Especially by the way Buck responded to this bad news with such grace. "Oh, okay...it's okay, good bye". As Buck walked away from the counter I plead with the guy to help him, and even offered a knife that my dad had given me on my birthday but they just couldn't loan us any money. I would have gladly given buck some money myself, but you see we had $41 dollars in the bank and it had to last us for over a week.

So Buck and I went back out to the car where Heather, my wife, was waiting. She saw Buck carrying his things and knew that we had failed, but also knew what I knew and that was we were going to help him regardless.

"Buck, would you be offended if my wife and I took you to the grocery store to get some bread and milk and things?" I offered. "Oh, thats okay, I couldn't let you do that. I'll be fine." he gracefully replied. "What if I told you that I felt compelled by the Lord to help you and that you would be doing me a favor by letting me?" I added. "Oh? well I guess, but I'd want to pay you back every penny." I agreed to that , but I never wanted anything in return. So off to the grocery store we went.

When we got to Aldi's, Heather and I found a moment alone to discuss how much we could spend on our new friend. Led by the loving Holy Spirit, she looked at me and said "I want him to have everything he needs." I fell a little further in love with my wife in that moment. So we grabbed a cart, and loaded Buck up with enough groceries for 3 weeks! Not because we were "Good People" or anything, but simple because the Holy Spirit insisted!

So we took Buck back to his little apartment in north Springfield. As we walked through the lobby of his apartment building some neighbors commented "Buck, I see ya got some groceries" to which Buck replied "The Lord will provide, the Lord will provide". (Which humbled me and you'll see why at the end of this story) So we loaded Bucks fridge and cabinets up with all the food, spend a few minutes talking and just before we left I asked him if it would be alright to say a prayer. "Oh, please do. I'd be grateful if you could put in a good word for ole' Buck" So, I smiled and in a small 3 person circle, we prayed.

As we said our goodbyes, Buck closed his door and Heather and I got back on the elevator to go home. I don't think that either one of us said a word for the next ten minutes. We just reflected on what had happened and what a blessing He was to us. And, even thought we had spent all of our money and had actually overdrawn our account on him, I was at ease knowing that as Buck so eliquently put it "The Lord will provide" and he did.

When we got home, we walked up to the front door and in the mail box next to the door was an envelope from a guy I had done audio production work for weeks prior and had almost completely given up on. Inside, was a check for $150 dollars. More than enough to get us through the week! Praise the Lord!

I thank God for sending us Buck when we needed him most. Amen.