{"id":1267,"date":"2018-12-26T18:45:44","date_gmt":"2018-12-26T18:45:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/safeplacewithruthgraham\/?p=1267"},"modified":"2018-12-26T18:45:44","modified_gmt":"2018-12-26T18:45:44","slug":"christmas-coffee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/safeplacewithruthgraham\/2018\/12\/christmas-coffee.html","title":{"rendered":"Christmas Coffee"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday morning, Christmas, I got up early to drive over to my oldest daughter’s home to watch the kids open their stockings. Since it was early I decided to stop by Starbucks and treat myself to a decaf latte. (I don’t drink caffeine and I am very self-righteous about it! I don’t drink it because it causes terrible tremors.)<\/p>\n

Anyway, on my way to Starbucks I passed a man standing beside the road holding a sign asking for help. I think we call that “panhandling”. It was cold out and he was bundled up as best as he could. As I drove on to Starbucks I decided I’d get him a cup off hot coffee and breakfast sandwich.<\/p>\n

I gave my order and when it came time for me to pay I was informed that the preceding car had paid for my order! There was no opportunity to thank the person – all I knew was it was a white car. <\/p>\n

I backtracked to give the coffee and sandwich to the man but saw he was walking away. Fortunately, there was no traffic ’cause I went across several lanes the wrong way to try to catch up with him. I got his attention and gave him the coffee and sandwich. He was more than grateful and said, “God bless you, ma’am”. <\/p>\n

Oh, I was blessed. Indeed! It made my Christmas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday morning, Christmas, I got up early to drive over to my oldest daughter’s home to watch the kids open their stockings. Since it was early I decided to stop by Starbucks and treat myself to a decaf latte. (I don’t drink caffeine and I am very self-righteous about it! 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