Rusty Nails

By Marcella Meeks

Matthew 5:42 KJV “Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.”

Galatians 6:2 KJV “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”

     In 1974 when I was just little girl, my daddy got laid off from work and it was several weeks before he found another job. We were broke and we were hungry.

     School was out and it was hard on me and my two little sisters. If we were at school, we’d be able to eat lunch everyday. Mama made biscuits and gravy every morning and pinto beans at supper until we ran out. I remember going to bed hungry several times that summer.

     My daddy finally found another job but it would be several days before he received a paycheck.

     One morning, mama got us girls out of bed and said, “Let’s go around the neighborhood and pick up soda pop bottles and take them to the store and get a refund on the empty bottles. We can get a little food.” Back then, you could get 5 cents per bottle for each empty soda pop bottle. We must have walked around for two hours but we never found any bottles that day.

     Mama decided to take a short cut on our way home. We came to an intersection and we were waiting on the light to change. There was an older man sitting on a pile of lumber next to his shop. “Hello,” he called out to us. “Would you like to make a little money today?”

     Mama answered, “Yes sir, what do you need us to do?”

     “There are rusty nails in all of these boards and I need them pulled out. I have hammers and gloves if you guys want to help me pull these nails out. I’ll pay you a penny for each nail you pull out. I am very tired already and I need to get these nails pulled out soon. I have to attend church this evening and I just don’t have time to get them all out.”

      Immediately mama agreed to help. We all started pulling nails and by 1:00, we had pulled out about $13 dollars worth of nails.

     When we were done, the man told us to go wash our hands at the water hydrant on the side of the building. He gave each of us a glass of ice water and a bologna sandwich.

     Mama thanked the man for letting us work after he paid her and we headed home. We stopped off at the little corner market on our way and mama bought some groceries and bought each of us girls a few pieces of candy each. We had enough food to last us until my daddy got paid.

     I never forgot that day that we worked for that man. We didn’t have to go to bed hungry any more.

     Through the years, I wandered if that man remembered us. I will never know but I remember mama praying several times that day and thanking God for letting that man help us. I remember her telling my daddy on several occasions what a blessing that man had been. At the time, I didn’t understand what she meant by that.

     When I think about that time, I can’t help but think about this scripture.  Proverbs 19:17 KJV “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.”

     If you see or know that someone might need a little food especially those with small children? Be a blessing to them and offer to buy them a few groceries if they need them, even if it is a small amount. Or cook a casserole and take it to them as a gift. Your small blessing may be returned to you some day. You never know how many times a child may have had to go to bed hungry.

     That day we pulled nails many years ago, a glass of water and bologna sandwich would have been payment enough as hungry as we were that day. What a blessing that kind man was to us.