To paint the picture for you, here I am, almost seven months pregnant, headed to Kroger to pick up milk and dinner. My shirt is actually my husband’s T-shirt that I don’t realize at the time is leaving two inches of my pregnant belly exposed at the bottom. My hair is in a messy bun, and I am already struggling to breathe through the ridiculous facemask I am required to wear indoors. A sight for sore eyes no doubt!

As I am carrying my bags to my car, a woman in her mid-seventies stops me and asks, “Ma’am, do you happen to have an extra facemask I can borrow for in here?”

My mind goes blank as I try to grasp what this lady was boldly asking me in front of the entrance of Kroger. I smiled, still unsure if she was being serious or if I heard her wrong, and slowly responded, “Well, I have a couple extra in my car right over there I don’t mind to let you have if you really want them?”

The rain was pouring down in the parking lot as we stood sheltered under the outdoor roof. She looked at the rain and replied, “I have mine in my car, too, but my car is way over there and I do not want to go back and get it.” Silence followed as she stared at me with tender eyes and desperation.

Drawn in my spirit with compassion (and still very confused at what was about to happen), I offer the mask I am wearing and slowly begin to take it off. Her face lit up as she began thanking me for giving her my mask. To try to make the situation as comfortable as possible (mostly for myself), I joke about the mask possibly having make-up smudged on it (though it didn’t because it was one of my brand new ones), handed it to her, and watched as she fearlessly draped it over her mouth and thanked me again.

You know those situations you find yourself in that leave you speechless the rest of the day? This was one of those moments. What on earth just happened?!

I climbed in my car and sat there, giggling because what else could I do? Never have I experienced anything like this in my life. Covid or not, I would never imagine sharing my facemask with a stranger. Germs are not my friend, in any season, in any decade.

Still speechless from the entire encounter, I chuckle with the Lord and wonder why the lady picked me out of the traffic exiting from the building—belly hanging out and all. Surely I looked as chaotic as I felt!

I heard the Lord respond to me in that moment.

“She chose you because you are safe.”

Those words spoken to me were like a tender kiss on my cheek.

Because you are safe.

You may not understand how powerful this moment was for me, but for years I have asked God to help me be a safe person for others to come to because being a safe place for people is how my Savior lived when He walked this earth. He was safe. He was kind. It didn’t matter who approached Him, or for what reason in whatever season, our Savior was and still is a safe Person to come to.

This encounter has replayed in my mind so many times and I cannot help but smile. Here she was, a precious older woman, asking a complete stranger for a facemask so she could enter Kroger, during a season where people are being forced to fear physical contact, transfer of germs, and shall I say it? Interrupted social distancing.

I cannot imagine what would have happened if she asked the wrong person, can you? We see people pepper-spraying others in public for not wearing their masks, threats being slurred, humiliation and condescending words taking root, and to some extent- violence and brawls.

Not that I think anyone would haul off and tackle this sweet older lady, but what if I wasn’t a safe person to approach? What if she asked someone who looked at her in disgust and walked away? Regardless if I, myself, would never ask anyone for their mask, doesn’t mean she is less of a person for asking me. After all, what if she was sent on purpose to me to test me? I could have been entertaining an angel!

“Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.” Hebrews 13:2

No matter the Lord’s intention of setting up this interruption in my day, the fact is that He chose me in order to protect her. She wasn’t humiliated, insulted, or avoided. She was loved by God through me, even if my flesh was crawling with anxiety at the thought of someone wearing another person’s facemask!

Our purpose as Children of God is not to determine when, where, or how we serve the Lord and His people. Our purpose is to walk in obedience in every circumstance, always prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks us, [in word or in action], with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against our good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. (1 Peter 3:15-16).

I cannot be a perfect person like Jesus was, but I can be a safe person. And so can you.

Since we are surrounded by such a great a cloud of witnesses, my prayer for us today is that we throw off everything that hinders us, and sin that so easily entangles, and instead run with endurance the race that is set before us – Hebrews 12:1 – even if that means sharing a facemask with an older lady at the entrance of Kroger.

Think about it, if it were you instead of me, would she be safe to approach you?