Entitlement

Ellen stood at the kitchen sink washing the dishes from breakfast. She wasn't really looking out the window to the front of the house. She was mulling over her condition in life. Sure, she had chosen to be a "stay-at-home" mom, but it was tough at times. Her husband barely made enough to support them. She wished for a night out or a new dress. It wasn't all bad, but sometimes, just sometimes ...

Her reverie was broken by motion out of the corner of her eye. At first she thought it was the other neighborhood mom, Sally, across the street, but she could see her through her front window. No, it was something else. He came into view walking down the sidewalk, a stranger to the neighborhood. Trying not to overreact, she kept at her dishes while keeping an eye on him. He came to a stop right in front of her house. He pulled a paper from his front pocket and looked around, comparing addresses on the street with the one on the paper. Then he looked at her front door and headed up the walkway.

What should she do?! Don't overreact! Don't overreact! Not every stranger in the neighborhood is dangerous.

He rang the doorbell. She peeked through the eye piece and then answered through the door, "Who is it?"

"Mrs. Avery? My name is Ken. I'm just here to give you something."

Keeping the chain on the door, she opened it slightly. "What?"

He smiled and said, "Here, Mrs. Avery. This is for you." He pushed a crisp, clean, $100 bill through the opening.

"What's this for?" she asked as she took it from him.

"Just because," he answered and turned to walk away.

She was torn. Keep it? Run after him and give it back? Was it even real? This sort of thing just doesn't happen, you know. But she closed the door and went back to the window to watch him walk out of sight.

That evening she told her husband about it. They celebrated their good fortune with a dinner out. It was a nice change of pace, a pleasant break. She pushed aside her concerns and enjoyed the evening.

The next morning she was back at her sink when she caught sight of Ken walking down the street again.

"I knew it!" she thought. "It was a mistake. He's here to get his money back."

Sure enough, he came to her walkway, verified the address again, and walked to the door. She answered the doorbell already explaining.

"I'm sorry. We don't have the whole $100 anymore. We had dinner out last night. But I can give you what we have and get the rest ..."

He interrupted her. "No, no, Mrs. Avery, I'm not here to get it back. I'm here to give you another." And he handed her another $100 bill and walked away.

She was stunned. How could this be? What was going on? Why should she be so fortunate? She wondered about it all day, but her husband told her to tuck the money away and enjoy it, so she did.

Ken showed up every day that week. Once she was vacuuming and he had to ring twice for her to hear him. Once she had to get out of the shower and cover up quickly because someone was at the door. But every day he returned with a crisp, new $100 bill. Ellen didn't know what to do with herself. For no reason at all as far as she could tell someone had dropped $500 in her lap. It was marvelous! She was working toward accepting it as true because it was just too wonderful to imagine.

Well, by the third week, Ellen had her routine down. No matter what was going on, at the same time every day she would be waiting for Ken. Once he was late and she figured, "Well, I knew it was too good to be true. The money is over. But it was so good while it lasted!" She was wrong. He came around the corner five minutes late, verified the address, and handed her another C-note. And so it went.

Well, the month ended and Ellen was happy. She had spending money. She had extra cash. And she hadn't done a thing to earn it. It was just a gift! How great is that?! She mused over this as Ken came around the corner again at his usual time. She stood out on her front step, waiting. Ken came down the street, stopped at her walkway, and pulled out the paper from his pocket as he always had. But he looked away from her door even though she was waving at him and looked across to Sally's house. Then he headed across the street to her front door. Ellen could see Sally open the door cautiously and receive the surprise gift. She watched Ken walk down her front walk and head back down the street.

"Hey!" she called after him, angrily. "Where's my hundred dollars?!"

So it is with us. We receive grace we don't deserve and are grateful. Then we become complacent. And then it is our right, our demand, our entitlement. Gratitude is lost. God owes us. Or ... does He?