You Reap What You Sow

One day a man saw an old lady, stranded on the side of the
road, but even in the dim light of day, he could see she
needed help. So he pulled up in front of her Mercedes and
got out. His Pontiac was still sputtering when he
approached her. Even with the smile on his face, she was worried. No
one had stopped to help for the last hour or so. Was he
going to hurt her? He didn't look safe; he looked poor and
hungry. He could see that she was frightened, standing out
there in the cold. He knew how she felt. It was that chill
which only fears can put in you. He said, "I'm here to help
you, ma'am. Why don't you wait in the car where it's warm?
By the way, my name is Bryan Anderson."

Well, all she had was a flat tire, but for an old lady, that was bad enough.
Bryan crawled under the car looking for a place to put the
jack, skinning his knuckles a time or two. Soon he was able
to change the tire. But he had to get dirty and his hands
hurt. As he was tightening up the lug nuts, she rolled down
the window and began to talk to him. She told him that she was from St. Louis and
was only just passing through. She couldn't thank him
enough for coming to her aid. Bryan just smiled as he closed her
trunk. The lady asked how much she owed him. Any amount
would have been all right with her. She already imagined
all the awful things that could have happened had he not
stopped. Bryan never thought twice about being paid. This
was not a job to him. This was helping someone in need, and
God knows there were plenty, who had given him a hand in
the past. He had lived his whole life that way, and it never
occurred to him to act any other way.

He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw
someone who needed help, she could give that person the
assistance they needed, and Bryan added, "And think of me."
He waited until she s tarted her car and drove off. It had
been a cold and depressing day, but he felt good as he
headed for home, disappearing into the twilight. A few
miles down the road the lady saw a small cafe. She went in to
grab a bite to eat, and take the chill off before she made the
last leg of her trip home. It was a dingy looking
restaurant. Outside were two old gas pumps. The whole scene
was unfamiliar to her. The waitress came over and brought a
clean towel to wipe her wet hair. She had a sweet smile,
one that even being on her feet for the whole day couldn't
erase. The lady noticed the waitress was nearly eight
months pregnant, but she never let the strain and aches change her
attitude. The old lady wondered how someone who had so
little could be so giving to a stranger. Then she
remembered Bryan ... After the lady finished her meal, she paid with a
hundred dollar bill.

The waitress quickly went to get change for her hundred dollar bill,
but the old lady had slipped
right out the door. She was gone by the time the
waitress came back. The waitress wondered where the lady
could be. Then she noticed something written on the napkin.
There were tears in her eyes when she read what the lady
wrote: "You don't owe me anything. I have been there too.
Somebody once helped me out, the way I'm helping you. If
you really want to pay me back, here is what you do: Do not let
this chain of love end with you." Under the napkin were
four more $100 bills. Well, there were tables to clear, sugar
bowls to fill, and people to serve, but the waitress made
it through another day. That night when she got home from work
and climbed into bed, she was thinking about the money and
what the lady had written. How could the lady have known
how much she and her husband needed it? With the baby due next
month, it was going to be hard.... She knew how worried her
husband was, a nd as he lay sleeping next to her, she gave
him a soft kiss and whispered soft and low, "Everything' s
going to be all right. I love you, Bryan Anderson." There
is an old saying "What goes around comes around."