"I'm hungry," he said when I answered the door.  "Can I please have money to buy something to eat?"  Startled at being approached at home and skeptical after years of news stories about phony pleas for help from people who actually lived like royalty, I hesitated. 

I tried to study him unobtrusively.  His jeans and tee shirt were worn and shabby; he didn't have a jacket on and his feet were bare and clad in sandals, though it was cold outside.  Suddenly realizing that I was home alone and had opened the door to someone I didn't know, which was completely unlike me, I started backing up and closing the door, muttering that I didn't have any money.  His hand held the door open and he said, "Please, don't slam the door in my face.  Do you have a jar of pennies, or anything?" .

Praying desperately for guidance, I told him that I would look to see if I had any money, but I would have to close the door to do it.  He let go of the door.  I quickly closed and locked the door, and again wondered what to do. 

I know what it's like to be cold and hungry, and the shame that comes from begging for help.  I was helped when I asked for help, and I wanted to help him if I could.  He had the courage to knock on my door and ask for help.  Didn't that mean something?  It did to me, but were my own prejudices in wanting to believe someone guiding me here?  "I want to help, but I don't know what to do!" I prayed as I walked into another room.  My eyes immediately fell on a twenty dollar bill on the desk.  "OK, thank you for the answer," I said, though unsure if I was interpreting it right.  I also grabbed a pair of socks to give him.

I held my cell phone before I opened the door again, ready to call 9-1-1 if I had to.  He was still there, looking embarrassed and ashamed.  His eyes lit up when he saw the money and socks.  "Thank you very much!  We lost our house when I lost my job.  We came here because the winters are lots warmer.  We will be looking for jobs, but there is no money at all in the meantime.  My wife and kids are in shelters.  There wasn't any room for me, so I left.  I've been walking and wondering what to do, and suddenly I was in front of your house.  It was hard to do, but something told me to go up to this house and ask for money.  You are an angel from heaven." he exclaimed.  I was sorry I hadn't given him more money, but he looked like someone who would use the money for food, not drugs or alcohol.

I felt that I had finally paid it forward, and I was glad that I had done it.