I had every intention of writing about DOMA and the Supreme Court ruling that will forever reshape the ongoing debate on marriage. I woke up this morning collecting my thoughts and mentally putting together a post. That was until I got in the car on my way to work. Stopped at a stop light, I saw the same unemployed vet I’d seen for the past couple weeks day in, day out. But something was different about today. Something in me had changed. And so I cracked my window and held out the few lonely dollar bills I had in my wallet and my world felt a little bigger.

Just some one dollar bills

It was only four dollars. Really, I gave him nothing. It wasn’t four dollars. In fact, the money had nothing to do with it. As I drove away with tears in my eyes, I realized my world isn’t about me. Not anymore. It’s not about counting every penny, saving as much as possible in my budget to spend on furnishing my house. No, it’s about the people around me. It’s about faces and hearts of real people with real emotions, not the online shopping cart.

Dollars to sense

It took four dollars to awaken in me a little sense. That’s a cheap price to pay, but it’s been a much longer road. You see, my heart didn’t change, my world didn’t stop revolving around me because I gave this man a few dollar bills. No, my heart had been changed over years of experiences and little changes over time by God. Yes, I’m playing the God card. But I know that I cannot change my own heart. I know that my head is too thick for my own tactics. No, it took something more powerful to change what’s going on inside of me.

What brought tears to my eyes after giving that man that money was seeing and feeling the difference in my heart. It was seeing him as created by our Maker, in His image, with needs, desires, goals, and feelings. He could no longer blend into the scenery; he was no longer a street sign on the way to work. He was an appointment, a divine opportunity. I almost wasted it, but I cannot express how glad I am that I didn’t. Because it’s those insignificant moments that make a lifetime of difference. So, what chance to give a dollar or two, if you will, are you ready to waste?