I live in a quiet little town located south of Seattle. Some people say it’s a hidden gem, an all-American town, with festivals and family-focused events. I enjoy poking around in the antique and specialty shops in the cute quiet almost three blocks of downtown. I live in a beautiful home in a nice quiet neighborhood with my husband. I really like the town I live in. I work full time just a few minutes from home, being active in the communities around me. I go to church and want to have a closer relationship with God. I have a home business as a speaker to encourage women and am in my junior year of college. In my spare time, I sell some products that I make in my home, I sew, crochet, enjoy baking, and love to travel.

I’m telling you all this for a reason, you see most people in this quiet little town would not have any issues with me, in fact, they may find my life quite amazing and extremely busy. They smile when I share with them about our four grown sons and nine amazing grandchildren.

I am pretty active on social media and have become a member of some of the local and city pages. I like to know what’s going on around me and also want to know if there are areas where I can help my neighbors.

Recently a post on the town social media page pulled at my heartstrings. A young man, just 18 had his bag of laundry stole. That isn’t all that sad except for the fact that he was living in his car with his girlfriend. They are homeless and while they were away someone seen the bag and helped themselves. There were a couple of responses posted, some were of people asking what they could do to help, and others were not so nice. With the temperature dropping my only thought was how can I help? What can I do, as a neighbor to make sure they are warm at night?

I reached out privately to the young man and asked if I could help with clothes and blankets. He said he would appreciate that. I asked if his car was running and he told me it was not and that he needed a small part and what the cost would be.

Next, I posted on my personal page, asking my friends if they wanted to help. I listed what was needed complete with sizes. Friends of mine rallied round offering a blanket here, clothing, socks, shoes, toiletries, and even an online gift card for the part he needed to fix his car, cash that was collected was used to purchase food, socks, wet wipes. The following day, after work, I spent about 4 hours meeting with each friend to gather these items. My husband went with me and we delivered those items to a young man and his girlfriend. They were parked on the side of the road about 8 miles from our home. He was grateful and my heart did feel somewhat better but still ached for him. We asked if we could pray over them and he said yes. I then told him that we see him, that he was designed for a purpose, to not give up, and I shared with him where some of these things came from. You see the items collected came from many people, some items came from a gal that was once a struggling single mom; other items were donated by a man that served time; some cash was given by a gentleman that has a daughter who had struggled with addiction; the gift card came from someone who’s child is on methadone due to a heroin addiction and her husband had struggled with opiate addiction. There were more people that gave, the common thread was that each person that gave had a story, where they had struggled and overcame.

The following night I went back to that local social media page to read some of the responses to the original post. Some were nice and helpful, some were hard about enlisting in the military or getting a job, and then there were posts that were just mean-spirited where someone posted that this young man needs to leave “our” town. Some people said that this young man should not be trusted, instructing others to unfriend him on social media. Others say he is a scammer, hopeless, that his life won’t change. Rarely do I respond when others express such negativity and hate but I was compelled to let them know something that might not otherwise know. So I posted the following.

I have to share, I try very hard to be quiet and to do what is best for me. I am so happy I am not the only one that reached out to this young man. You see some of you are just saying mean things, it wasn’t that long ago that I was ONE of those people, you know ONE of those people that had to go to the food bank, that received a thanksgiving dinner from a local church, ONE of those people where the sheriff delivered gifts at Christmas to my kids, you know ONE of those people that received free haircuts and free lunches for my kids. And then I married a man who was clean and sober and he relapsed, and I found myself right alongside him. People helped me, they prayed for me, they gave me things and fixed my car, helped with the water bill. Because of the life, I lead now, most of you would never know that I was ONE of those people. But while my life was a mess there were people that seen me, seen that I was designed and made for a purpose, they spoke over me things to encourage me. I am thankful that a lot of you have never been ONE of those people, but I am so very grateful that I was ONE of those people because it has given me compassion, love for others without judgment. You can give without giving cash and if you don’t want to give or choose not to give you can say a prayer or wish good things for ONE of those people.

The response I received from my post is mixed. What some don’t understand is that I give to give. I don’t give to get anything back, not world-changing results, not a life turned around, not a pat on the back, not to end an addiction, to end homelessness or because I personally feel a person is worthy enough. I give simply because people gave to me when I needed it. I try to see people as people, not with a label of “homeless”, “addict”, or “scammer”.

If you look at me today, it appears like I have it all together, but it wasn’t all that long ago that I struggled. My husband has 8 years of sobriety, we have lived in this quiet little town just 3 years, and I am over 55 and just now attending college. I try to live my life, deliberately and with purpose. I work to speak encouragement into other’s lives, whether they are a friend or a stranger.

Remember, whether you live in a big city or in a quiet little town, like where I live, and you choose to share how you feel about ONE of those people, you might be sharing with someone who used to be ONE of those people.