Oh Yea of Little Faith. . .

At 6 am, on a freezing morning, I left one of my most prized possessions in the hands of a stranger - and then walked away. I had faith that I would see it again, but with each day that it was out of my loving care, my faith dissipated.

As many of you might know, the weather in MN has been up and down lately. One day its raining, the next its snowing. All of this causes major problems for those of us who get to park our cars in the elements during this time. On one particular morning, mother natures left me a present of about 3 cm of ice clinging to all of the surfaces of my car. There is something about walking out your door in the morning to the orchestra of ice scrapers echoing in the fidget air. You instantly know that you will be joining in the fun.

As I was walking out my front door, a neighbor that I have never seen before, ended up walking out behind me. As we both walked to our cars, which happened to be parked across from each other, both of our hearts dropped when we quickly realized that we would be spending the next 10 minutes chipping away at our frozen vehicles. And so the race to see who would finish first started (or at least that is what I was thinking).

I quickly jumped in my car, nudging the sleeping and cold beast to get started for the morning. After some yawning and moaning, it finally turned over - from the vents, ice cold air hit me in the face - which I quickly turned to defrost mode - to help me out in my next adventure.

Climbing out of the car - with my prized possession and helpful tool in hand - I starting to chip away the ice. As I looked over at my competitor - I soon realized that the race wasn't fair at all. In my hand, was a long and powerful ice scraper. The type that is ergonomically bent for the best leverage to get under the ice on the windshield. In her hands, was the equivalent of a credit card strapped to a stick. By the time that I had finished clearing all of my windows, this poor lady was still working on her main windshield.

I was late for work, and almost jumped into my car to take off, when the sight of this ladies' ice scrapper stopped me in my tracks. Then the thought of, why don't I lend her my ice scrapper - and aid her in her struggle. But. . .I was aprehensive. I mean, I have had this ice scrapper for as long as I can remember. It was my first purchase when I got my very first car. The scrapper has rode shot gun in every car I've ever owned, aiding me in clearing my view winter after winter without a single complaint. And now I was going to hand it over to a perfect stranger?

I gave her the ice scrapper with the request that she leave it in the lobby of our building on her return trip. I drove way, half expecting to see a single tear roll off of my most useful tool. But with all faith that I would see it once more.

When I return home to my apartment that night, I looked in the front lobby of my building. Nothing. No sign of my trusty ice scrapper. I though, "maybe I beat her home. . ." The next day came, no sight of my scraper, and so the days clocked by, until I at last gave up hope of ever seeing my red ice scrapper. After a few angry thoughts and under the breath cursing - I started looking for a replacement.

However, just yesterday, I returned home after a long day, and there, propped up against my mailbox, was my ice scrapper. In all seriousness, I had given up on ever getting this thing back. I had written it off as a risk of doing an act of kindness. I mean really, the thing cost me 10 bucks - I was willing to take the risk of never seeing it again even though this particular scraper is the best scraper I've ever used (not even joking - the thing is awesome!). But to see it there propped up, waiting for me, it did restore my faith in people a bit. It made me realize that my initial anger over someone not returning an item to me was stupid. It also renewed my faith that people are good. I think it is so easy to assume the opposite of those we have never met before.

More importantly, I've learned that even though I may not see an immediate result of something kind that I have done - doesn't mean that there isn't one.