Warning, this is a tear-jerker. It will make you mad, make you think, and make you sad.... maybe.
Last week as I passed a man with a sign saying he needed money for food to feed his kids. I had the dog in the truck, so I was limited on some things I could do, and we've recently had people panhandling - an area that almost never gets that. He was at the bottom of the highway exit, I was driving past on the road the exit emptied into. I continued on past this man with the struggle in my heart - is this for real? Is this fake just begging for money that I worked all day for and can barely get by myself? I actually came home, really bothered by this. No matter what I did, I could be wrong. About an hour later, I went back... he was gone. I've been bothered by this, since. I'm mostly bothered because I just don't know what my response should have been.
In this world, we feel so often that we are being cheated, taken advantage of and manipulated. It's hard to know when real need is staring a person in the face. I would like to think that I would never pass by a hungry child, but did I do so earlier - just with a different face?
This is hard on my heart. I think next time, I will give. It's better on my heart to feel that at least I did the right thing, even if that person with the sign did not. My humanity is salvaged. And, what if it's real!???
