Each Day You Have a Challenge

The elderly woman looked down at the young boy seated at the solid maple table.  They were in the breakfast nook.  Sunlight filled the room and shadows from the flowered branches of the dogwood tree danced and bobbed on the table.  A magnifying glass covered the Sunday paper which was strewn across the table.  A clock on the wall measured time with oaky sounding clicks.  Her aluminum and plastic cane rested against the armrest of her chair.

“Each day you have a challenge,” she said.  “God puts people in your path.  There is someone each day that needs your help.  It should be the first thing you think about when you get up.”

The boy shifted in his seat.  At age seven the world was an easy place.  Time was not a villain.  He was protected by love and generosity.  There was no urgency.  There were no pressures.  There were only opportunities and days of grace.  He pushed the plate that contained remnants of scrambled eggs and toast with rhubarb jelly.  He tugged on the napkin below the table and listened.

“Every day,” she continued.  “Every day there is someone you must help.  They need you.  It could be a family member.  It could be a friend.  On some days it will be a complete stranger.  But God puts them in your path.  Then he watches to see if you notice-if you help.”

He looked at the steely and certain eyes of the woman.  They were surrounded by the wrinkles of experience.   Ripples of skin closed in on the lips as if they were going to tighten and seal her mouth.  Her hair had long since lost its radiance.  Now merely shades of whites and grays.  Time had exacted its inevitable toll on her body, but the mind remained sharp.  It still drew in facts and sorted them into perfect mental compartments for rapid retrieval.  The body was weak, but the mind raced forward regardless.

“What am I supposed to do?” he asked.

She considered him for a moment.  He was getting it.  “You never know.  Each day and each person will never be the same twice.  Some may need you to listen, some may need a favor-something you can do, some may need directions, but you are chosen because you,” she pointed at him with a tender and trembling finger. “are the one who can help the situation.  You are the one selected in advance to be of assistance.  But you must find them.  You have to be aware.  You have to be looking.  If you are not paying attention, you might walk on past them and never notice.  Don’t miss them.  Each person is at a critical stage in their day, or in their life.  You have to be watching.  You have to be attentive.”

“What if I can’t see it?”

“You must look carefully.  They will be there.  It is a daily test you cannot fail.  They are counting on you.  If you look carefully, you will see them.  And with experience, you will know what to do.”

“I’m just a kid.  What can I do?”

She smiled.  Sixty years before she had heard the same message, from her grandmother and she practiced it, some days better than others, but it was the first thing she thought about each day.  It was a daily mystery, a daily challenge.  Can you spot them?  Can you help?  “If you do this, you will be doing what is required of you.”

He nodded.  He didn’t understand, but he knew it was important.  He would do it, because she asked.  At least he would try.

“You are part of the solution,” she said.  “You are part of the puzzle.  The piece that makes the others fit together to make the wonderful picture on the box.”

“If I do this, what do I get?”

“You never ask what you get.  You don’t need to think about it.  This is your job.  God determines what you get.  And it will be better than you could ever imagine.  You cannot dream big enough to know what your reward will be.  You don’t get to pick.  It isn’t like a carnival game where you win and pick a stuffed animal off the shelf.  You don’t do it for the stuffed animal.  You do it because it is part of you.  With practice you become better and the rewards become greater.  With practice it becomes second nature.  The world rewards you in ways you’d never think of on your own.  You will live a meaningful and important life.  You will get all the riches and blessings you deserve.”

He looked down at the napkin.  His fingernails dug nervously at the edges.

“Your life isn’t about you,” she continued.  “It isn’t about what you get.  It is about what you give to others.  The difference you make in lives that are close to you and lives of those you merely pass by each day.  Be watchful.  They are out there.  Your challenge lies before you each day.  Don’t let God see you turn away.  If you find the person and help, He will smile down on you.  If you are thinking only of yourself, only about what you want, you will miss it.  Some days there will be many who will need your help.  But every day there will be one.  Don’t miss it because you are looking at the ground in front of your steps.  Don’t miss the chance.”

And she was right.  Each day the boy searched for the one chosen for him to help.  Many days he found them.  Some days he went to bed knowing that he missed it–he had failed that day.  Before drifting off to sleep, he vowed to do better the next day.  Each day was a mystery that only he could solve.  When he was careful to look, he always found them.  Most days the task was simple–some days quite difficult.  But there was one each day, just as he had been promised.  Also, as he had been promised the rewards were beyond his belief and greater than he could ever have imagined.  The concept was simple.  The execution was messy and uncomfortable at times.  But it was his job, his duty–one that became easier each day, and one he willingly searched for.  It was the first thing he thought about in the morning.

Now it was his turn.  He looked over at his son in the blue baseball cap, holding his shiny glove as they drove to the park for ball practice.  “You know Buddy, each day you have a challenge.  God puts people in your path….”