Sometimes as we go shopping we will see a man standing on the street corner. He was always holding a sign. The sign this gentleman held read, “Willing to Work for Food.” I had only seen him once or twice, but both times I had no money with me. Then one day my son came home from work, he told me he wanted to speak to me about something he did. I thought that he was going to tell me something that I truly would not like to hear. I braced myself.

My son came into my bedroom. It is the place we have any of our family talk that needs discussion or discipline. I sat down in my chair and my son sat down too. My son began to speak by saying, Mom is did something today that I feel was what God wanted me to do. I think that I handled myself right in what I did and I need you to tell me what you think of what I did.

As he was talking, I seen this old man standing on the street corner. I felt deep in my heart that I should do something. I drove on over to the store and made up my mind that if the man was still standing on the corner I would do something. I went into the store and purchased a couple things. I had forgot about the man standing on the corner. Then as I started to pull out of the parking lot, there stood the man.

My son told me that he pulled into the small drive right next to the man. He walked over to this man and began to talk to him about what he would like to eat. The man told him that he did not care, just a sandwich would do. My son told this little old man to come over to his car because he would take him to get a bite to eat. This little man trusted my son enough to get into his car. My son took him over to Kentucky Fried Chicken. He told him to select what he wanted to eat and as much as he felt he could eat. T

The man placed his order for his meal. My son told the older man that he could have more if he wanted it. The man replied by saying the day light is going to be gone soon and he can only order what he can work for and with it getting dark, he would not have many hours to work. My son told him that this was not something that he would need to work for as it was a gift to him. The man took my son’s hand and tear came to this man’s eyes as he said to my son, Sometimes a older person will stop by to offer some bread and meat, but most the time it is the younger youth that help him out when he is in need. He then told my son that if he ever needed anything done to come and let him know as he will remember him always. My son wanted me to tell him if what he did was right, or if he should have handled it differently. I told him to ask his heart because if God gave him a peace than that is what matters.

Sometimes we hear so many bad things about people trying to get something for nothing. I once had trouble with that until a very dear friend of mine told me about how she had been praying about money she sent to some Christian preacher. She felt what she was doing was right, but she wanted to know what God thought about it because of the fact the man might not spend the money as he promised. She then went on to tell me about how she found a peace in her heart before the end of the pray.

My friend told me that she felt as though God was telling her this: Give and Give until you feel you can not give no more, It is then when God will Bless you and if you give to someone who is falsing saying he is gathering money for a purpose other then truth, then it is God that the man will deal with, but if you do not give then it is you will lose your own personal blessing. When you do something and do not know what is in the future, it is than you will see peace.

Sense that day, a young teenager came to my house. I had to run to the store and the teenagers decided to run with me to the store. As we came upon that same little old man. This young girl commented about how her mother would yell out the window telling him to get a real job and stop begging. She thought her mother was right and he needed to be told by the police that he could not do that. At that moment I wanted to cry.

My trip to the store was ruined because I felt so sadden in my heart. I picked up a few extra items because I had a idea that I was going to try to do when we left the store. The young girl did not know that I heard her, so I thought I would leave it that way. After checking out, We all got into the van. We pulled out of the parking lot and there was that man, I turned right next to the man and into the small drive. My daughter asked what I was doing. I responded that I felt in my heart that we should do this for this gentleman. I asked my daughter and her friend, “Would you two girls please go ask the gentleman to come over to the van because mom had something for him.” My daughter did not look to thrilled with it but the other young teen responded and they both went over to get him.

In less then a few short minutes, the elderly man was standing at the side of the van. I had opened up some chips, paper plates, sandwich meat, some pop, and some little Debbie’s. I told the children that I thought it would be nice to share a meal with this gentleman. The man told me thanks, but he could clean the van while we sat on the grass and ate. I stopped him and told him that he was doing his job right now. He was sharing with us a new friends meal. We stood and talked with this man. The teenagers where full of questions. They found out somethings that to think about the next time they see someone holding a sign.

As we began to say our good-byes I packed up the left overs and some peanut butter with the bread for this gentleman to have. He was so grateful that even I was blessed to have met this man. As we pulled away from the older gentleman, the young girl said she was surprised to know that he used to be married, owned his own dairy farm. After he wife turned ill, he had to sell the farm. He does his best to make sure his bills are paid, but towards the end of the month, food is gone, so He looks for work. He said when he was younger that he would never stand on the corner, unless it was for his children, but now he is doing what he said he would never do.

The teenagers were talking back and forth about this older man. I could tell that they learned a lot. The one young girl asked my daughter if her mother does this type thing often. My daughter said, My mother does a lot of praying and if she feels it in her heart, he will do it. My daughter’s friend told her that I was a cool mother to do something like that. She said the next time she is with her mother and she says that she is going to go stand on the corner with him while her mother shops and then she will need to stop to pick me up. She was sure that her mother would be in total surprise if she met this old man.

Who is that Man on the Corner? He is the old school teacher, the grandparent of your best friend. Who is that man on the Corner? He is belongs to some family. Who is that man on the Corner? Be very careful, you might be looking into the future, it could be your parent or even yourself.