My wife and I were downtown, specifically to serve God one night. Some people had run out of gas, so we ran to the gas station and got them a gallon. After we returned, as I was filling up their tank, a homeless guy came up and asked my wife for some money. Now, here's the weird thing. She didn't get the normal 'vibe' off this guy. She said there was something profoundly different about him- he had a particularly joyful demeanor, and he was soft spoken and polite. There was no smell of alcohol or filth.
She gave him a couple of dollars. When she handed him the money, she said his hands were incredibly rough- like he had these unbelievable callouses on his palms.
She turned around for just a moment, I was maybe ten feet away, filling up these people's car and talking to them about the Lord. When she turned back, the guy was gone. Just not there anymore, and on an open street.
We think that this may have been an angelic test, or an opportunity to sow a blessing of generosity, that we could later receive.
Now this is just weird.
Last year hubby and I were on our way home from the annual biker benefit run for the local Vet's hospital.
We stopped to get gas going out of Martinsburg and a couple came from somewhere behind the gas station and asked hubby for gas money.
He handed them something like a dollar or two.
[he's -very- skeptical about 'beggars tales', as a rule]
I was way off to the side watching all this [gas fumes make me nauseous] and it "bothered" me for some reason.
As they passed by me I silently handed them all the money I had in my pocket...something like $5 or $10.
[I forget exactly...it was my 'pocket dollar stash']....;D
The man grabbed my hand and started thanking me like I'd just won him the WV lottery and the woman kept saying "God bless you!".
[and for some reason, them thanking me like that just embarrassed me to death because the energy coming from them both sort of freaked me out]
I turned to see hubby watching this and he said "what did you do *that* for?!?".
My only answer was "I dunno".
I turned back to them and they'd disappeared.
To this day I do not know why I did it.
It just felt really, *really* important to do so.
Tell your wife I understand the "vibe" thing....:)
I have no idea if they were "otherwordly" or "just starving".
Didn't make any difference to me.
I simply felt an undeniable compulsion to do it.
Here's a "funny" 'flip-side of that coin' story for you.
A couple years back I went to the local mall.
It was pouring rain like crazy.
A man and his very elderly wheel-chair bound mother were stranded on the curb.
He wanted to go get the car and she was apparently terrified to be left alone, even for the minute it would take for him to return.
She was nearly in tears at the very thought of it.
I told him "Hold on!" and ran back to my truck to get my huge "golf" umbrella.
I squatted down and held the lady's hand, comforting her until he came back with the car.
She gripped my hand with the strength only confused fear lends.
As he took her from her chair and put her in the car, I held the umbrella so that she remained completely dry whilst I was getting utterly soaked to the bone.
At the end, the man said I was 'surely an angel'.
Now bear in mind that I was [as usual] dressed completely in black.
"Angels" may not always appear as we think they should and people are not always as they appear.......:)