My friend Grace is originally from San Antonio, Texas, but spent much of her childhood in Mexico, where her stepfather worked in the oil business. She recalls that once as a hurricane approached their home in Tampico, her stepfather put Grace and her mother on a plane to San Antonio, while he stayed behind to ride out the storm. During and after the storm he devoted himself to rescuing stranded residents and helping out wherever he could.

The family had recently acquired a new car, and Grace's stepfather really wanted to find time to swing by their house and put the car in the carport before the hurricane arrived. But he was so busy helping storm victims that he never managed to break away long enough to move his new car.

Imagine his surprise when he got home after the storm hit and found that the carport had collapsed, but the new car was undamaged! Isn't that a wonderful reward for his selfless service? If he had tended to his own needs instead of someone else's, his new car would have been underneath the carport when it collapsed.

Grace's story is a great example of how we cannot know the eventual outcome of various event

s in our lives. By putting the needs of others first, we just may find that our own needs are mysteriously satisfied as well.

© Karen Wheeler Hall - All Rights Reserved

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