A ‘heavenly whisper’ brings help to stranded woman

The temperature was 102 and climbing. Against the scorching asphalt and storefront concrete it could easily be even hotter.

As my car swung into the grocery parking lot on Tuesday, I hoped to find shade directly in front of the store, my usual area to park. But then a nudge – what I call a heavenly whisper – had me turning the opposite direction.

“Maybe there’s a blessing ahead,” I thought as I circled the aisles at the far end of Kennewick’s Fred Meyer, my eyes searching for shade.

But there was none. No shade and no blessing.

Resigned to parking next to a car that had a shady spot, hoping at least a shadow would spill onto mine, I pondered why the thought to park in such an inconvenient area had brushed my heart. However, in years past I’d regrettably learned how ignoring a gentle whispering to my heart had cost me lost opportunities; one a last chance to talk with a distant dying friend. Since then, I have paid attention to heaven’s prodding.

Nevertheless, I grumbled as I walked extra steps in the blistering mid-afternoon sun until I reached the edge of the store. As I wound my way through the outdoor summer sale – clothes, dishes and patio furniture in my path – a white-haired woman briefly caught my eye. She stood, supported by her walker, her grocery cart by her side.

“She must be waiting for someone,” I thought as I walked through the smothering heat, my mind focused on getting into the cool relief inside.

An hour passed while I shopped from one end of the store to the other. Then back into the heat I went, dreading the hot car that awaited me. But as I walked the distance along the perimeter of the outdoor sale merchandise, I saw the same elderly woman again. She was now seated in a marked-down porch swing, her face flushed and perspiring.

“Do you need help?” I asked urgently, realizing she had been in the sweltering outdoors since I had entered the store.

She told me hesitantly, and with a bit of confusion, that she was waiting for the senior transportation, Dial-A-Ride. But as I glanced curbside, there was the big van pulling away.

I turned and ran. The driver noticed me as I kept pace with the moving vehicle, waving frantically beside her closed see-through doors.

“There’s a passenger waiting,” I called to the driver as she paused. “And she’s been out here in the heat for at least an hour from when I first saw her.”

What we learned from a dispatcher on duty at the scheduling office, Millie, who was well into old age, had been considered a “no-show” at 1 p.m. when her bus had arrived.

Could she have been in the wrong place, waiting at a distance rather than at the store's front door? Had she stood, then finally sat for over two hours, expectantly waiting?

As I assisted her from the patio swing and ushered her inside to a tall glass of ice water and a place to wait for her rescheduled ride, my thoughts swirled. What if I hadn’t parked in a remote location? I would have walked directly through the front doors and missed seeing the “90-something” lady in distress.

I also realized something else.

When the heavenly whisper had come earlier, it wasn’t all about me. It was about God blessing Millie.

Psalm 91:1 “We live within the shadow of the Almighty, sheltered by the God who is above all gods.” (LB)

If you have a story idea for Light Notes, email lluginbill@tricityherald.com. Follow Lucy on Twitter @LucyLuginbill

This story was originally published July 20, 2014 at 6:45 AM with the headline "A ‘heavenly whisper’ brings help to stranded woman."