still working on getting my "Karma" level up ..I try to help when I can ..and like you ..find it hard to accept help .I spent many years recovering from injury's..and now have the chance to help out mostly because of the help I got from strangers.and my church ...I try to treat everyone like I want to be treated ..that's normal ain't it ??

 

it could be Ken... it should be ! hard to do sometimes when you have to deal with 'attitude'

our pastor gave a great sermon today about what legacy you'll leave when you check out... one thing he mentioned was people that you can't seem to like or get along with... he says they aren't a 'problem' they are a 'project'. I'm gonna try to adopt that thinking with a couple of folks I know...

you've got the right attitude... it's what God told us to do !

later
John

 

just yesterday I went to the local butcher shop to buy some fresh ground hamburger. We are expecting the storm of the Century hitting the east coast so we are stocking up on some food we can cook on our grill if our power goes out....

There was an older lady in front of me that had an ice cream sandwich lying on the counter as she was getting some other things. The lady at the cash register asked if it was mine and I said no but it looks good. Well the lady went back to the freezer and got another one and gave it to me. I refused, she insisted, I reached into my wallet to get 2 bucks, she refused that and said it was her random act of niceness. And I should pass it on and pay it forward! How nice of her to do that. I haven;t had the opportunity to do that yet, however...

 

after the storm ..you'll get your chance!!

 

well i didnt even look at the date of the first page, just read and got hooked. great thread really makes you feel somethin when ya read some stories,

 

What a great thread!

I have a life time of stories, I grew up with parents who helped out anonymously, said it helped people from feeling they ever had to repay you and gave them hope in the world as they never had any idea who had given them this gift.

But I will just share one, a recent one for me, but it's going to take a little bit of back story that I'm hesitant about, so I probably won't get into the details on here cause it will make for a depressing read, lol.

Right now I'm living in a small town that's as beautiful as can be, but the town doesn't want to grow, ever, it's the same size it was 60 years ago. And the town makes it's money off of natural fuels. The problem with that is whenever there is a Democratic president they move things to alternative fuels, rather than things like coal. I'm sure there is a flip side to this town, some other town that whenever there is a Republican president that hits the slumps too (I'm not saying anything political, but it is a fact on how this town is effected. It's not a smart economy system in my book in the slightest)

The problem is is right now the town is in a slump. A very bad one. A 'working on a ghost town' type slump. Again. And we're getting a lot of the oil workers from Dakota here and it's bringing in even more meth. There are no jobs (the newspaper lists 10, for an area of 17,000). I'm not going to get into my situation, lets just say we're in the best place possible for a miracle, complete and true in every way.

Well, my truck has been a sanctuary of sorts for me over the past 4 years now, something to work on and enjoy, but it hasn't been something I could spare any money for since I bought it. The guy I bought it from actually brought it to me when I couldn't get it for just the cost of gas, was a good 700 mile drive, which was a big blessing as well.

Well, I guess that's enough back story, it's not going to seem like much unless you've been there, but one of the big annoyances I've had with my truck has been the short running boards. It hasn't been something that I could afford a set of even badly used ones, I only just had the money for shipping. Well, another member on here contacted me on a set of running boards to see if I could use them. Turns out they where in excellent condition. He simply gave them to me. He shipped them out to me, not waiting for the money to ship them, that was about a week ago. I was waiting to hear from him to verify his address so I could get a check back to him when he felt like passing on his good week and told me to keep it. Free running boards, free shipping.

Now, maybe that doesn't sound like a lot, but if you've ever been stuck in a situation for years, not just weeks or months, sometimes you have to have something to work on that's not critical so you don't forget. I've been irritated with my trucks half running boards since I put the bed on years ago, but I couldn't do anything about it. Sure it's just a truck to the world, but right now it's still an escape. And completely free running boards is a huge thing right now.

Well this post got a little serious on me, but I wanted to do the blessing justice. Any day now I'll have another one to write on how God brought my ship in

 

Actually, O negative blood is traditionally considered the universal donor, but you're the next step down the chain as far as compatibility goes. Since we learned about the AB(O), Rh (+ and -) antigens a long time ago, the game has gotten much more complicated when it comes to finding the most perfect match for someone. When we order a blood transfusion in a non-emergency setting, it usually takes quite a while for the lab to find the right "cross-match".

 

In 1998 when I was getting Old Betsy painted with a lot of sheet metal patches and good used pieces, an older gentleman from Northern Calif sent me for free a pair of good used door handles that had no pitting like my old ones. I did buy a used tailgate from him later but I thought it was so nice for him to send me free handles. I did not know him, we just spoke on the phone as he did not have email or use the internet...

 

Jeff, I imagine you (and a lot of others on this forum) are just like my neighbor. A couple of months ago he comes out of his garage, hold us a dual electric fan and says, can you use this? Wow, what a wind fall. I'll have to be on my toes looking for an opportunity to return the favor.