Charity Never Faileth

Yes I know that is the name of my blog but it truly does work!! I had promised our 11 year old granddaughter a "new" bike for awhile and have been scoping second hand stores for one that fit my budget but hadn't been successful. She really wanted one to take camping with us so this morning I called and asked if she wanted to go to Salvation Army to check it out once again as they always have bikes there. We get there and of course there isn't one. She was disappointed and when we got into the van I just had a feeling inside of me and asked my daughter if she wanted to go to Value Village to check that store out even though it was at the other end of the city. They always have tons of bikes there and she said sure.

We drive all the way there and of course there are 2 tricycles and one small 2 wheeler. We were just standing there for a minute trying to think of where else to look when a man that had been standing right beside us looking at something else asks us if we were looking for a bike and what kind. I am always hesitant talking to strange men (besides Keith and my sons of course) but it looked like he was with his teenage daughter so I explained what we were looking for. I told him she was too short for an adult women's bike but had too long of legs for a regular kid's bike.

He asked me how much shorter I thought Britnee was compared to his daughter and I said probably about 6 inches. He said we have one at home that she hasn't used in a couple of years if you want to come take a look at it you can have it. Again I hesitated but asked how much and where did he live. He said in Guildford area and if I picked it up and it fit I could just take it. I thought sure it's free it must be rusted out or missing brakes etc but figured out what could I lose?

So we made arrangements and got his address. He said he was going to head over right away and just make sure it was still there in the garage. He calls about 30 minutes later and said yes it was there. We were just a couple of minutes away so kept heading over. I really was expecting an old rusty bike but here was this wonderfully kept CCM bike ready for us! Not only was it ready but he had already oiled the gears and the brakes and was riding it on his driveway when we drove up to make sure everything still worked.

Britnee tried it and rode a bit down the back lane and it fit her like a glove. She was soooo excited! I thought ok here goes the sales pitch. I asked again what he wanted for it and he just simply said "Nothing just take it away". We loaded it up and I turned to him and his daughter and we both thanked them again. I told him that they would be blessed for doing this for this young girl.

Who said the Golden Rule no longer applies? Who said there isn't good people out there anymore? Who said that no one shows charity anymore? Today I would beg to differ.