assuming the best

I've been meaning to share this story, but just haven't gotten around to it yet. There's a man named Clarence (I hope he doesn't mind that I share his name) that lives in our neighborhood who comes to our house pretty often to see if he can trim bushes, mow, rake, etc. A couple weeks ago when Jay was visiting Clarence came by and mowed and weed eated. He charges $25. He came back about 15 minutes after leaving. He was holding the 5 dollar bill and told us that he'd dropped the 20 on his way to put up his lawn mower at a friend's house. Ryan, Jay, and I didn't have any more cash and were totally skeptical and assuming the worst. What an easy way to earn $45 insted of $25, right? I hear Clarence say, "I owe a friend $20 and told him I'd pay him today, could I borrow the money and pay you back tomorrow?" Instead Ryan and Jay said that they'd retrace his footsteps with him in hopes of finding the  money. The three of them walked back the way Clarence had come and had no luck finding the money. Clarence thanked Ryan and Jay for trying to help him and said that he had to go get his mower so he could try to mow another yard before it got dark so he could pay his friend back. They said bye and Jay and Ryan headed back to the house. They were kinda frustrated and felt like maybe Clarence wasn't being honest about the whole thing. They were confessing to each other that it's so much easier to distrust than trust when you don't really know someone. Some leaves blew and there was the $20. They grabbed it, ran to find Clarence, and couldn't find him. They saw some people out in their front yard and asked, "Have you seen an older guy..maybe with a lawnmower..?" "Oh yeah, Clarence? He's over there." They pointed Jay and Ryan towards Clarence...they found him and were able to give him his $20 back. I'm thankful for humbling moments like that that help me remember the importance of assuming the best in people.