$9.85 Follow-Up

Please excuse any typos, grammatical errors, or bad sentence structures that I'm about to type... I don't really have time to type this out right now, but I really want to tell the story... now, before I forget. Reflection will come later.

For reference, in case you don't remember, go back and read my post "$9.85"

About 30 minutes ago I got off of work and was driving home with my mom. My gas tank was running on empty, so we decided to stop at a gas station to fill up. While my mom was inside, paying for the gas, I heard a knock on my window. I turned around only to see... (surprise, surprise) the same exact lady who accosted me at the gas station last November. At first, I thought maybe she had recognized me and wanted to talk with me again or something. So I got out of the car only to hear her gasp (at my size) and ask how I old I was. (So apparently, she didn't remember me.) Wondering whether or not I should trust her, I folded my arms, leaned against the car, and told her my age for the second time. She then proceeded to ask if I was familiar with the area then began her long sob-story about how she her hotel was about to evict her unless she could provide $9.85 within the next 30 minutes. Before she got too far with her story, I interrupted her to ask for her name.

"Excuse me, what was your name?" I asked.
"My name is Kelly. Anyways, so I just need..." she started to say.
Before she could finish her sentence, I interrupted again, this time to ask what was really going on...

"I'm sorry Kelly, I don't know if you remember, but we met a couple months ago at another gas station where you told me this exact same story. I'm having a hard time believing this one now, can you tell me what's really going on?" I said.

"Oh I'm so sorry!" She said. "I don't have a very good memory so I don't easily remember people I've met before. I feel so embarrassed. But that's what is so hard about this whole thing! I always feel so embarrassed. I don't want to be out here asking for money; it's humiliating. What's going on is that I work for this guy who pays me with cash, but sometimes doesn't pay me all the way. That's what's going on. And my name really is Kelly, that's the truth. But if I can just get help to get back on my feet again with that $9..."

I have no idea what her name was last time, but I'm pretty sure she was about to tell me that she just needed a "mere $9.85" again. I then I interrupted her for the third time to ask whether or not she knew the One who is always there for help, the One who saves, the One who rescues the weary, etc. She pointed upwards and said that she knew God. I asked if she had a personal relationship with Him. She said that she did and then told me that she goes to church and has been baptized, which apparently legitimizes her statement. Anyways, she was telling me about how she just got finished crying because she hates having to ask for money and how she hates living this way. I told her that God is a God of forgiveness and unconditional love. Before I could explain, she interrupted to say, "Well yeah, and then I was crying because of that! I don't deserve that love and I'm so blessed to have it!"

By this point, I was having trouble trusting anything she said. I didn't believe she needs $9.85 nor did I even believe that she believed a word she said. She agreed with everything I said, only to add that she just needed $9.85 and was sorry for taking my time.

After I said that I appreciated whatever truth she told me, she asked for the time, told me she now had only 20 minutes left to get her money, and walked away apologizing for being a nuisance.

At this moment, I don't know what I have to say about this. I feel weird. I spoke with her last November and heard the exact same story, which tells me that she's been doing this for at least 4 months now. I don't have a clue what is "really going on," but whatever it is, I have the feeling that she's going to be needing $9.85 for quite awhile. I hope to have time to reflect on this later, but for now, I'll leave you with this: don't give the $9.85; that's not what she needs. Give her the truth, and let God do His work.