A Homeless Veteran Teaches Us All About Generosity

Kate McClure thought she could make it on the gas she had, but she didn't. Traveling on Interstate 95 last month through Philadelphia she ran out of gas. If you've ever run out of gas you know it's already an insecure feeling. Kate said she got out of her vehicle both scared and nervous as she began to walk to find a gas station. That's when she met a homeless veteran named Johnny Bobbitt Jr.

If you've ever had a homeless person walk up to you it's often for the same thing. You are about to be asked for money. She didn't have any, he didn't ask. Instead he told her to return to her vehicle and lock the doors. Johnny used the only $20.00 he had to his name to purchase fuel for her car, and sent her on her way. This would already be a great story if it ended right there. It doesn't.

Kate would return over the next couple of weeks to give Bobbitt a jacket, gloves, hat, and socks. He was grateful, but she wanted to do more. She had a conversation with her boyfriend, and they decided to start a Gofundme page. Johnny Bobbitt Jr. spent Thanksgiving in a hotel instead of sleeping in a shelter or under a bridge. As of yesterday the total contributions to the GoFundme page surpassed $300,000. You read that number correctly.

Bobbitt spent his last $20.00 to help a stranger in distress not knowing he would ever see her again. He reminds me of a certain widow.

"Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.
Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” Mark 12:41-44

Jesus taught us that what we do for, "the least of these," we do for him (Matthew 25:40). Last month a homeless veteran chose to see a young woman who owns far more than him as the one in greater need. Let's follow his Christlike example, and look around this month to find them as well. We're sure not promised our own GoFundme page, but we are promised to hear the words, "Well done," when we stand before our Father. And that's exactly what we want to hear.

Following the Son,

James A Williams

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