Do Unto Others........

Yesterday morning about 6:30 AM the doorbell startled me out of my sleep deprived haze...there is just something grating about that sound so early in the morning.  There is also a sense of foreboding....nothing good ever comes at 6:30 AM.  I answered to find a woman I had never seen before with my neighbor's dog.  I have a neighbor, two houses down, that is on vacation.  She had her mother's coworker, who is inbetween homes, come stay at her house to take care of the dog.  My neighbor had intended to give me her garage door opener as a backup plan, you know, in case the house/dog sitter locked herself out.  The night before she left she called me to say she didn't feel like walking it down but she'd stick in it in my mailbox the next morning.  She never did.  And now this stranger appeared at my doorstep because she locked herself out of the house.  It was dark, and cold and she couldn't get into the house or her car and everything she needs to save herself is in that house.  Plus she has in tow the dog she was walking.  She's new to Juneau, and this is a strange neighborhood to her.  She was completely at my mercy. 

I invited her in and we spent the next hour making calls and trying to find a solution. We eventually got ahold of another occupant of the house who was at work and he came back and unlocked the door.  I was only a little late for work and we had a nice visit. 

It reminded me of the many times in my life that I have made a wretched mess of things and have been completely at the mercy of God.  With absolutely no backup plan.  How many times God has patiently and lovingly sat me down and helped me through each and every step?  How many times he has forgiven me so I could proceed to the next day and the next mistake.  I know how that woman at my doorstep felt:  utterly vulnerable and undoubtedly wearing a healthy dose of self-loathing.   Today I am thankful for such an understanding God and I hope that I treated that woman (whose name was Sherry) with every bit as much patience and kindness as has been shown to me.   Because there but for the grace of God go I..........