The Popcorn Man

A pastor friend of mine had this experience and shared it with me, and I in turn want to share it with you....it really hits home and broke my heart....

"I go into Walgreens. I am waiting in line to buy stamps. The man in front of me in line is....is....well, he is about 25 and poor. Dirty, smelly, and about 4 foot eight inches tall. You know, some people have a hard life. Some of the people who are not our beautiful people are God's beautiful people. The young man is in line to buy 2 packets of microwave popcorn. Not boxes, two packets. You and I buy a box of six packets of popcorn. This Walgreens sells it by the individual packet. I guess there is a market for individual packets of microwave popcorn in this neighborhood. Two packets of popcorn costs .82 cents. The young man digs into his pockets and presents a handful of change. No quarters, mostly nickels and pennies. Either the kind of change you have after you have spent your good change, or the kind of change that you pick up here and there on the sidewalk. It's not enough. He only has about 58 cents. I immediately do what each of you would have done, I pull out two quarters and put them on the counter. The man looks me in the eye and very deliberately says "thank you." Piercing words from his world to mine. He paid for his popcorn and then tried to give me the extra change. I walked out of the Walgreens and returned to my life. A missions trip. A van owned by the church. A plane flight home. A wife that loves me. Three great kids. A nice home. Cars, computers, bicycles, tools, friends and a great job. He walked out of the Walgreens with two bags of microwave popcorn."

After reading it again, I stop and realize....this popcorn man is someone's child...A mother somewhere is probably grieving, her heart breaking, wondering if she could have done a better job, if she could have made better choices. But we all have free will and so does the popcorn man. The best I can do / we can do is pray for him and others like him. Incredibly humbling....