When Nicole Heintz stopped to get some gas on a cold winter morning, she had no idea that she was about to make a huge difference in the lives of a family in need.
“So I was just on my way to work and I had to stop for gas so I allowed myself some extra time to get to work. When I pulled up to the pump I shut my car off and saw this middle aged man crying looking at the gas pump. I began to wonder what happened with this man and as I got out of my car and looked at him my heart felt like it stopped,” Nicolle recalled in a viral Facebook post.
“In Apple Valley, Minnesota it is 10 degrees and freezing cold with the wind. This man was wearing flip flops with socks covered in holes. I look at his car and see his wife in the front seat covering her face in her hands and the two teenage girls both cuddling under a blanket in the back seat.”
Nicole’s gut told her that this family needed help, and though she did not want to pry, she felt compelled to intervene.
“I went up to the man and said ‘sir is something the matter?’ He looked at me and I could tell he was on the verge of giving up because he didn’t even try to conceal his tears when he said ‘I can’t even provide for my family.’ Without even thinking I put my card in his machine and told him Jesus Christ the Son of God died to provide for you. Fill up. Something, something came alive in him. He was in shock and it was like he forgot how to pump gas,” she recounted.
“In that same moment his wife got out of her car, she asked her husband what was going on and he told her I just payed for their gas she started to cry and came around the corner to shake my hand when I saw her pants dirty and torn. I asked her to come to my car.”
“The airport lost some of my luggage on my way to Minnesota from California and I had to clean out my closet to find stuff to wear and get rid of a lot of stuff all of that stuff that I had yet to give away was sitting in the back seat of the car and in the trunk. I opened up my car and told the lady to take what she wanted,” Nicole added.
Nicole could tell that the woman was overwhelmed by her generosity, but she didn’t stop there!
When Nicole Heintz stopped to get some gas on a cold winter morning, she had no idea that she was about to make a huge difference in the lives of a family in need.
“So I was just on my way to work and I had to stop for gas so I allowed myself some extra time to get to work. When I pulled up to the pump I shut my car off and saw this middle aged man crying looking at the gas pump. I began to wonder what happened with this man and as I got out of my car and looked at him my heart felt like it stopped,” Nicolle recalled in a viral Facebook post. “In Apple Valley, Minnesota it is 10 degrees and freezing cold with the wind. This man was wearing flip flops with socks covered in holes. I look at his car and see his wife in the front seat covering her face in her hands and the two teenage girls both cuddling under a blanket in the back seat.”
Nicole’s gut told her that this family needed help, and though she did not want to pry, she felt compelled to intervene.
“I went up to the man and said ‘sir is something the matter?’ He looked at me and I could tell he was on the verge of giving up because he didn’t even try to conceal his tears when he said ‘I can’t even provide for my family.’ Without even thinking I put my card in his machine and told him Jesus Christ the Son of God died to provide for you. Fill up. Something, something came alive in him. He was in shock and it was like he forgot how to pump gas,” she recounted. “In that same moment his wife got out of her car, she asked her husband what was going on and he told her I just payed for their gas she started to cry and came around the corner to shake my hand when I saw her pants dirty and torn. I asked her to come to my car.”
“The airport lost some of my luggage on my way to Minnesota from California and I had to clean out my closet to find stuff to wear and get rid of a lot of stuff all of that stuff that I had yet to give away was sitting in the back seat of the car and in the trunk. I opened up my car and told the lady to take what she wanted,” Nicole added.
Nicole could tell that the woman was overwhelmed by her generosity, but she didn’t stop there!
“A moment later she and her two girls were digging through those clothes layering my sweatshirts and shirts and sweatpants over the worn out clothes they had been wearing,” Nicole recalled. “Soon the father had finished pumping the gas and came over. This attracted a little crowd at the gas station. Some older man gave the family a gift card and another middle-aged man gave away his jacket to the father. Never in my life did I think I would see this kind of thing happen at a gas station with a handful of complete strangers. But it gives me hope. That the love of God can be so contagious. That we are not alone in being the change we want to see in the world. That God’s love is greater than anything and we get to be a part of that love changing lives. And HE always provides!”
We can only hope that this family got enough donations to help them get back on their feet!
This story is a perfect example of how God works in mysterious ways. As humans, we never know when God is going to give us the opportunity to change someone else’s life. God bless Nicole for taking the time to do something amazing for this family!
