I felt I was in a Three Stooges movie!

These days I’m looking more like Larry and acting more like Curly.

They had predicted heavy rain and strong winds for our area today. I decided to go to the grocery store early in an effort to avoid the brunt of the storm.

Of course, just as I arrived the clouds let loose. I was half way across the parking lot when I saw a young lady drop something. I turned around and ran to her side.

“I’ll get that for you!” I said.

“No, let me get it. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

I was trying to be a gentleman.

She was trying to prevent an old man from falling.

We both bent over at the same time and nearly butted heads. Standing up we both had our hands on what appeared to be her checkbook.

We both began laughing foolishly as we stood there in the rain.

“Now, come on before you melt,” I said.

We walked over to the front of the store and stopped.

“My Dad always said that…you know the thing about melting in the rain.”

“He must have thought you were so sweet,” I replied.

She smiled for a moment looking away as if lost in her thoughts.

“So, do you have everything?”

She didn’t respond.

“Are you Okay?” I asked. “Do you have everything?”

Still turned facing away from me, I could not see what was going on.

Then she turned toward me. She was crying.

“Is there anything I can do?” I asked softly.

“Bring him back.” She whispered.

“Your father? I’m guessing you lost him.”

She went on to explain that her parents divorced recently. Dad just moved out and she hadn’t heard from him.

“I guess I’m not important,” she said.

“You are more than that!” I replied.

When I said that I felt like I was hearing that for the first time, myself.

I went on to say, “No matter what is going on in your life, no matter how far you have fallen, no matter how tragic the circumstance, you are more than that.”

We talked for a few minutes longer. She actually gave me a hug. We were two strangers caught in a down pour, two stooges sharing a laugh.

I am used to things like this happening. I have lived a lifetime of “God’s coincidences”. Nothing surprises me at all.

Except when the message is meant for the messenger.

She continued into the store and I sat on a bench outside for a moment.

I said to God, “I’m not worthy” He replied, “You are more than that. You are everything to me.”

“I cursed the day because I could not see the light beyond the darkness.”

I heard “You are more than that. You are a beacon that shines not only in the darkness but in the light of day. Who you are and what you are capable of doing awaits your own acceptance and approval. You cannot see the light because your eyes are closed.”

“My finances overwhelm me. In turn, I cannot help those in greater need than I, I feel useless,” I said in prayer.

“You are more than that. You have a heavenly bank account filled to capacity waiting for you to withdraw from it. Your gifts, your talents I have given you do not cost you one earthly cent to share. You give them away already. Give them all away.”

“I am a failure as a father and husband,” I thought. “I do not serve as a good example to anyone in my family.”

“You are more than that. You compare yourself too harshly to the world around you. Behind the public image of many you will find the same shortcomings, struggling marriages and parental failures. Remember that children hear and see the whispers of adults. In their own minds and hearts they learn both the good and bad. You have much to offer…you are more than that.”

And so it is with you, my friend. Whatever struggles you are facing, whatever shortcomings and failures you focus on in your life, God created you to be the very best.

No matter what…”You are more than that!” So much more!

Bob Perks