Respect of a stranger

This is the story of a man I met this past Saturday.

I was prayer walking around Northminster Church when I saw  a man riding his bike up the sidewalk.

I asked if he was collecting cans.

He said he was and could he have the ones in my bucket.

I told him I had some more at my church in Mechanicsville and would he like them.

He said he would and I tried to make arrangements to get them to him later that day.

I gave him my name and his was Mike.

We said goodbye and I told him my address and to stop by later and grab the cans.

I wasn't sure exactly what time that would be because of my crazy schedule.

So as I walked home I felt led to just get in my car right then and go get the cans.

It was early in the morning and I had some time before a wedding I was headed to.

I got in my car and headed back to Northminster hoping that Mike would still be there.

Sure enough he was sitting on the stairs waiting for the food pantry to open up.

I asked him if he wanted to ride with me to Atlee Community Church.

Without any hesitation he jumped into the car.

We had a great time together that morning. 

We went through all the recycle bins and pulled out a bunch of cans.

I enjoyed getting to know Mike and how much he loved fishing.

I had seen Mike around the neighborhood quite a bit and had always admired his initiative and ingenuity.

I had no idea about the shooting incident in this video.

Now I respect the man even more!