Blessed is he that considers the poor

This post has been brewing in my heart for a while now
Funny how a life lesson hits so deep and somehow for me it wont be settled until it is shared.
I am going to try to keep this brief but I am so incredibly thankful for what I know the Lord taught me and how He used a situation to change my heart to be more like His

When I was first called back to work I was sent to a really poor area in Escondido.  I started with a bratty attitude with comments like
" It's such a barrio"
" those people are all on welfare"
As if, I myself  was above anyone. I grew up in Hawthorne with very middle class hard working parents. Who did I think I was? I am embarrassed that those comments even came out of my mouth
Well it wasn't even a week later that I called Steve on the way home crying my heart out and humbled by such truly sweet people in that area. Mostly I was met with hardworking families trying to create a good life.
One customer came up to me with his recycling slip and was so happy that his cans had been more than he thought.  He said he was going to get a frozen pizza and a red box movie for his wife!     
And he was grinning ear to ear !
He was so excited to surprise her with this fun treat! That $8.00 extra made all the difference

Then another really sweet young couple came through and were watching their total the whole time
They were around 40 and the wife had a toilet brush and a mop and said
" I wont take these today after all"
Her husband said " no honey its OK, we are going to be fine this month, go ahead and get them"
She decided on the brush but left the mop behind. Even ten more dollars would have affected their life that week.

How many times do I fill my cart up at Target with a $100 dollars worth of stuff and I could leave it behind and really not miss a thing.
I often called Steve on my drive home and would be so emotional because we have always had enough for food and necessities and I never,ever want to take it for granted.
We have never been wealthy but we have never had to go without 
Every day I saw people who truly struggled just to stay afloat  
I know that after my three months there I was changed....
I had more of Gods heart for the poor than I ever did before...
And now I find myself thinking of little ways I can share
I ran through McDonalds and dropped off some burgers to the day labors who wait under the shade tree in old town. I got thumbs up and big ole thank yous !

There is one sweet homeless customer "Eli"  who always comes into my store now, and I will sometimes help him pay for things if he is short. Last week he walked all the way back to the store because he forgot to pay for his green bell pepper ! I was so touched by his honesty
{ He mostly buys Payday bars, he LOVES them! }
I keep wondering what his story is and where is his mom ? He is so handsome and funny and I tease him endlessly and he thinks I am just hilarious.
I used to see him as that smelly guy, who is sometimes loud, and I would almost hope he went through another line  
I am more aware than I ever was before, and have been trying to live out 
"LOVE DOES"
I no longer think of them as "those people"
I want to always be content with a frozen pizza and a movie
I want to have  Gods heart

And I can feel my Moms pleasure....
She always lived that example , but somewhere along the way I forgot