Conversation with a stranger

I've been thinking...... about a conversation I had with a stranger last week. I don't know what her name was. All I know is that she was a Grandmother with broken English, a life time of pain, and a lesson to teach me. I met this stranger at a meeting she attended with her troubled Grandson. My agenda that day was very simple: listen to several families come in and tell there stories, give my opinion on what should happen, and get back to the office ASAP. I had a million things waiting for me at the office and didn't have time to waste at this meeting. When this particular Grandmother was done talking I had a quick question for her. Rather then ask in front of everyone I followed her out into the hallway. I asked my quick question but she did not give a short answer. In fact it seemed that her aswer rolled into a whole other topic. I found myself growing impatient after about 60 seconds of her rambling. I am not proud to say that I was not listening to her. I did my best to be kind. I kept thinking, "I need to get back into my meeting, I could be missing something important". I attempted to re-direct her and end the conversation at least three times. Didn't this stranger know that she was blocking my agenda? She was taking too much of my precious time. She talked about her Grandson. She talked about the tragedy that he had already known in his short life. She talked about her own children and the tragedy's that they experienced. I felt the Lord convict check my attitude. I talk often to the people I supervise about the value they need to show others. I tell them, "if you do nothing else in your time with families then show them value, you have done much". How hypocritical I was being as I attempted to get out of this conversation! I was thinking, "why did I follow this Chatty Cathy out here". I wasn't thinking, "how can I show this woman value?" About 10 minutes into our conversation she may have sensed by my body language that I was ready to go. She apologized for taking my time and then thanked me for just listening to her. She explained that she has no one to talk to and appreciated my kindness. I instantly felt convicted and ashamed of my attitude. Here I was in a hurry to get back to my business of helping pople and totally ready and willing to ignore this opportunity that God palced right in front of me. Instantly my heart softened and I continued to engage this stranger in conversation. She went on to share her life story. She talked about the physical abuse she had known her entire 49 year marriage. I was amazed as I often am of the personal details people share with a stranger when they are desperate for someone to talk to. She shared with me details about her wedding and first years of marriage. She shared with me what it was like to be abused on your wedding night... It was obvious that this poor stranger was full of years of bottled up pain. My meeting ended and people filed out of the meeting room and past my stranger friend and I. Most of them pased by as if they did not notice us standing there. I am sure they did not want to be pulled in to a conversation that would take them away from there next agenda. A couple of them turned towards me behind the strangers back and rolled their eyes in empathy towards me. It did not matter. We finished our conversation and the stranger thanked me over and over for my kindness. "It was so nice to just talk to someone she said". We went our seperate ways then. This stranger who I had a 30 minute conversation with left a mark on me that day. I was reminded that it only takes a short amount of time (often less than 30 minutes) to show someone value. I ask myself, "how many times do I pray that God will help me love others and then completely look over the others he puts in my path?" Do I only love others when they fit into my agenda? I'm not sure how many things I was able to cross off my "to do" list at work that day. I don't think it mattered. If I was able to show value to a hurting individual by simply listening to her story then I think my day was successful. As I shared in my previous post, I am seeking ways to focus on the important things in life. For me the important things in life are people. I am ashamed that I came very close to missing out on this encounter with a stranger that day because of my list of things to do. I have found that most of the time the things on my important to do list are really not important at all.