Thank you, Stranger.

I got in a car accident yesterday. A bad one.

It was scary. I had a child in the car. In one split second, my day went from normal to far from normal.

There are lots of details to be worked through, lots of checks to be written, and phone calls to make.

But really, I just wish I could thank the stranger again.

See, not ten seconds after we crashed, there was a young mom at the side of my window, asking if I was okay, telling me to get out of the car. She helped sweet Claire out of the backseat and ushered us to the side of the road, safe from oncoming traffic and the smoking car.

She ran back to her car, and came back with a cupcake. A cupcake. In the most dire of circumstances, this sweet lady came back with a cupcake. The six year old was thrilled. Elated, actually.

There were only a few minutes between the accident and the arrival of the police and the firefighters. But in those few minutes, the stranger asked me something.

"How are you really, Alyssa?"

My initial thought: "Are you serious right now? I just in a major car wreck. I'm awful!"

But she waited. Just waited for me to tell her.

So while the car was smoking, my knees were throbbing, and Claire ate her cupcake... her words grappled with my heart.

I can't remember the last time someone added in that word - really - the one that changed the trite question you and I hear every single day.

So we stood in the bushes. Claire grasping her sugar, me tasting salt... and I told her just some small pieces of who I am. A total stranger.

She waited as I spoke, the most peaceful expression of her face. She just listened. She nodded her head, and seemed to tilt it with empathy. Then she hugged me, and asked me if she could pray. So on Churn Creek road with sirens blaring in the near future, she prayed for peace. For strength. For absence of pain.

The police arrived, and she gave her eye witness account. She came back over to Claire and I, and I thanked her for the cupcake. But mostly for asking. And for listening. and then she left.

Sometimes, we just need to be heard. I drove home in the backseat of my dad's car, burdened with the damage of a car and the reality that I had gotten in yet another car accident. But also I was feeling overwhelmingly blessed by the stranger's kindness.

We're good at nodding our heads and saying, "I'm great, thanks for asking! Everything's wonderful." I didn't even know I was waiting for someone to really ask, and not be afraid of the answer.

If you're reading this today, you're most likely in one of two places. You are finding yourself with tiny salt pools, silently begging for someone to really ask you how you're doing. The burden seems heavy today. OR, you know you need to go find that co-worker, that lonely friend, that neighbor and ASK, "Hey. How are you, really?"

I walked away from that car accident yesterday feeling sore but blessed. Today, I am wondering how many women in my life are waiting for me to really ask, then wait for the answer, then listen to her worries, hopes, and dreams, then pray for her life and her heart.

So often with our racing and rushing, we miss the opportunity to ask. To listen. We fill the space with empty, meaningless words and continue to ignore the secluded pain that isn't God's ideal for the body of Christ.

WE are the body. YOU. ME. We need to carry one another's burdens. Galations 6:2 tells us so.

I don't even know that sweet stranger's name from yesterday. But if I could talk with her again, I'd tell her thank you. And I'd tell her how much her encouragement and peaceful spirit meant to me. And I'd let her know that I hope to be a beacon of hope for someone else, just as she was for me.

You never, ever know how your simple words can impact someone.

So, how are you?

Really?

Love to you,
Lyss