This past weekend, my husband and I were part of our church's "Renew Our City" project, and I thought I'd share my experience. Saturday morning many teams went out into the city to serve the community. Some teams did major projects like going to a school to paint or do yard work. Some teams did simple things like hand out water in the park or donuts to local businesses who had to work early Saturday morning. My husband and I were on a team where we did a $1 car wash. Now I know that if I saw a sign that read $1 Car Wash, I'd probably think there was a catch since $1 is extremely cheap for a car wash. Well, if you thought there was a catch, then you were right. The catch was that we gave our customers $1. That's right, we gave THEM $1 after washing their cars. The faces of our customers were priceless. I was impressed on how many people wanted to donate money (more than $1), but one by one we refused to take any money and handed them a dollar. We encouraged all of our customers to "pay it forward." We showed love by washing their car in hope that they would return love to someone else - whether it be donate the money they would have spent on our car wash by treating someone to coffee or lunch or just show love in any other way. In a few hours, our small team probably washed close to 50 cars, including a limo!
We had a little waiting area with refreshments and chairs for people, and one thing I found fascinating was that while people were waiting for their car to be washed, they had the opportunity to connect with other people in the city who were also waiting to get their car washed. At one point, I walked over to tell a lady that her car was ready, and she insisted on finishing her conversation before leaving the parking lot. Now I didn't get to partake in much of the conversations, but it was neat to observe as I washed and dried vehicles.
One man came in a brand new company car just to drop by a donation (he didn't think it would be wise to let us wash it). Of course we didn't accept his donation, but he stayed a while just talking to one of our team members.
The limo driver was awesome! - His license plate read "My Treat." What he does is treat his friends and family to a limo ride when they go out drinking - to ensure everyone has a safe ride home. So we were able to bless a man who is already blessing and loving on others.
Another thing that impacted me was the amount of elderly people that came to get their car washed. I thought, wow, something simple that I can do in minutes with no problem probably would be very difficult for them. One man had difficulty getting out his vehicle and walking. So I began thinking...how are ways that I can help out the elderly in the city? I don't personally know any, but I'm sure I can help them when the opportunity arises at maybe the grocery store?
Giving up sleeping in on a Saturday morning and being physically sore the following day was worth the internal feeling I felt by just helping people out by simply washing their car. I know I've been challenged to keep this "pay it forward" movement by not necessarily doing big things like washing cars, but small simple things when the opportunity arises. So I ask you, what will YOU do to pay it forward?
