Good Samaritans

So this morning I jumped in the car to run to the store with Nathan. I was pretty nervous about making it to the gas station (I was totally on empty the other day but I didn't have time to stop and get gas before the kids got home from school). I even got the feeling that I should bring a gas can with me...just in case. I checked a bunch of cupboards in the garage and couldn't find them, so I gave up and headed off. I think next time I will pay a little more attention to "the feeling." HE HE HE. I was cruising along and thought, "As long as I make it up this hill then I can pretty much coast to the gas station." I'm going and going and going....and then there is a chug and another chug and the car starts slowing down...and eventually stops (just short of the top of the hill). I had my phone with me, and I thought I would call someone. I tried one person - no luck. I only had one bar of battery left and I didn't want the phone to die too, so I got out and decided to walk. My visiting teacher lived a mile or so away. Thank goodness today wasn't as cold as some of the days last week. I got Nathan and we started walking down Route 66. I was walking for less than a minute...literally...when a car stopped and asked if I needed help. They were an older couple with a young girl in the back seat. I told them I had run out of gas, and they said, "Well hop in." So I got in (no hesitation at all....you know when you can just tell people are totally safe - that was them). Anyway, they took me to Autozone to get a gas can and then to the gas station to fill it up and then back to the car. The woman held Nathan while I filled the gas can. The man then filled my tank once we got back to the car. And the little girl told me all about the Nintendo DS she was playing. Gas was in the car, the car started, I thanked the couple sincerely, and I was off.
Probably not a big deal for this couple - 25 minutes of their day to drive around a woman and her little boy to get gas....but it was a HUGE deal to me. The couple were both retired Navy. They were actually on their way to their church building (they are the janitors for it) and then they were going to bible study (the little girl mentioned). And they are the grandparents for the little girl in the back seat but are raising her like their own child. It's good to know that there are so many good people in the world - just going about their day to day lives, but helping others whenever they find the chance. It made me realize again how much the "little things" that we do matter. And I am thankful to them for their kindness and to so many others just like them out in the world going about doing good.

(Oh, and now I have to start my record again. It's been about 9 years since I ran out of gas (I mean really ran out - where someone had to come and "save" me). I'm a real push-it-to-the-limit kind of person when it comes to filling up the gas tank and sometimes pride myself on how far I can go. Guess I better be a little more careful living out in the country where there are more hills and less gas stations. HE HE HE.)