There was a big white SUV standing alone at the gas pump. I figured the guy who owned it was inside the convenience store. He would be back soon. And I would pray for him. So I pulled in and began filling up with gas. And I waited. And waited.
And then I saw the little girl sitting in the front seat of that SUV. She was probably five or six years old, just looking at me with a big grin on her face. And then she crawled into the back seat, and I could see there was a much smaller kid sitting in a car seat and drinking a bottle. And there was at least one more kid in there, too. They were having fun. The little girl climbed into the front seat several times while I was standing there.
There was no parent in sight. Mary would have been appalled by all of this. I kind of thought it was amusing. And then the little girl got out of the car and walked into the convenience store. I watched all this out of the corner of my eye as I finished filling up with gas. Sure enough, out came the mom, carrying a bunch of stuff in her hands and scolding the little girl for getting out of the car. She didn't care what the reason was.
This wasn't the best situation for my project. She was going to think I was praying for her because she wasn't in full control of her kids. But why not? Who's ever in full control of their kids? So I asked her. She looked at me kind of funny and then said, hesitatingly, that I could pray for her. She wasn't sure about me, of course. And she stopped to put her stuff in her SUV first, and then she got the gas going into the tank.
And then she finally stopped to look at me again. I just prayed that God would bless her in whatever she was doing that evening. When I was done, there wasn't really a thank you. Just a funny look. I smiled and left.
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