With a six-month-old baby, and my oldest just two-and-a-half, I was pregnant again! At nineteen years of age, I had gotten used to people’s stares of me the young, skinny girl with a round, swollen belly, a baby straddled on her hip, while holding the hand of another toddler. Excerpt from Running in Heels: A Memoir of Grit and Grace
That young, skinny girl was me back then.
Today, rushing out of the grocery store, preoccupied with my list of things yet to be done once I got home, I hear a lady’s faint voice call out to me. I look and read the card in her hand: HUNGRY. PLEASE HELP. GOD BLESS. I mumbled under my breath and continue my pace, but not without glancing at a toddler asleep, bundled up in a stroller.
This poor woman called out to me! But for the grace of God, there go I.
I reflect back to a sad place in my life when I could have been her with my own child.
Yet, today this woman called out to – a high-school dropout, wearing a beautiful watch purchased from her son, a designer purse from her daughter, an !phone in her hand, wearing a sparkly diamond wedding band, nice clothes, shoes, nails manicured, hair styled, climbing into her shiny SUV.
She called out to me! Lord, you’ve brought me further than I ever thought possible.
I cannot help but think back and see in my mind’s eye a young, insecure teenager who owned only one pair of shoes, and hand-me-down clothes, wondering where her wandering-eyed husband was, while she struggled to care for her little ones, listening to the rumbling in her own stomach.
She was me!
Although not necessarily rolling in dough, I now have the comforts of home needed to sustain me, with more than enough food in my fridge, cupboards, and belly. I am able to enjoy many of the things I couldn’t before, remarried to a wonderful and faithful guy for almost 22 years now.
I don’t look like I once did.
In my vehicle, I fumble around in my purse and find a $20 bill. I
then, drive to where this woman is, roll down my window and call out to her. Her eyes widen; a smile comes across her face. She gushes “Thank yous and God bless yous”.
A car honks behind me.
As I drive off, I am left feeling blessed indeed. I whisper a prayer for that young woman and her baby. I am filled with gratitude as I’m reminded of how far God has brought me, knowing, He’s not finished with me yet.
© M.A. Perez 2016, All Rights Reserved
Reflections From the Heart 