On Driver Candy

I was recently asked a question: Do I feel like a hypocrite, handing out bags of candy to people, even though I am living a sugar-free lifestyle? The answer is absolutely not.

First, I am only giving this out to adults, and rarely a parent of a child. Secondly, they are able to decline if they want. If someone offered me candy I would decline if I knew them. If I didn't, I'd accept it and put it in my bag. Later on, I'd get rid of it.

Basically, God just put it in my head to give people bags full of candy (about a handful or 2, in a plastic bag). I've been doing that off and on for, oh, 3-4 years now.

Last year, I started feeling led to hand out Bibles and New Testaments. My only regret about my mugging a few months back, was that he had gotten some driver candy I had bagged for the bus drivers. I began wishing I had a tract or something in there - it seemed a shame he mugged me and didn't get a Bible or tract out of it. He is on the prayer list, along with all the other d0ne-me-wrongs. Praying for them makes me a better person, and I notice I don't want to haul those grudges around anymore.

I thought, "Why couldn't I put a tract into a bag of candy?" I went home and tried it out. They fit great. So, I do that now.

How exactly do I compile a driver candy? I always put some kind of tract.

My all-time favorite insert is a World Missionary Press scripture booklet: http://www.wmpress.org/readbk.shtml They aren't much bigger than a business card, and chock full of Biblical goodness. Free on request (I do donate money, though). My favorites are How To Know God, and Help From Above. They come in all languages, so I get English and Spanish.

I also use Grace and Truth tracts. http://www.gtpress.org/ Again, free on request, but I donate what I can. I am a big fan of "Have a Good Day and Thank You", "Debt Paid" and "Getting Right with God". I like to put "What will the Bible do for me?" and "How to Read and Study the Bible". I have other tracts (you can request an assortment, too, and use what God leads you). I ALWAYS pray and ask God which tracts to use.

Occasionally I use a Good News Tract. http://www.crossway.org/catalog/gods.love/tracts I really like "You're Special" and "Someone Cares". "Thank You" (under the tipping section) is also excellent and very small.

So, I've got a baggie with a tract. Now we get to the actual candy portion.

I buy the big bags of bulk assorted hard candy, the fruit drops, cinnamons, butterscotch, peppermints, etc. I generally plunge my hand into the very large bag and grab a handful. I even ask God to guide me to the right candy, and He obliges. One day I had a handful of butterscotch, which I put in the bag. When I handed it to the driver, he said "Oh, I LOVE butterscotch!" so I know He's guiding every step of the way.

I like to put in a lollipop of some sort. I'm currently using Dum-Dum suckers. My mother used to use them to quit smoking, and my Grandmother would buy them for me when I'd visit. I like the Dum-Dums. For the Spanish, they get a Spanish tract, and a Paleta Enchilada (a hot lollipop) instead.

Then we get to the "Chewy". Most people like the chewies. I do a piece of the wrapped Super Bubble Bubble gum, and a "Chewy Mix" - That's what they call it at Sam's Club. It's a huge sack of assorted caramels. I pick one and put it in the mix. When a driver eats the candy in front of me, they always seem really happy with the caramel.

On an interesting note, one of my tellers has a severe peanut allergy. I always do her candy first. She cannot have a chewy, just the hard candy and a Dum-Dum. They are made on peanut-free equipment.

So, I've got the gum, the chewy, the lollipop, and the hard candy. Now it's time for the chocolate! I like the Palmer assortments. I'm really happy with the Easter Mix items they have at Big Lots - excellent prices ($1.50 to $2 per pound). I have 2 assorted mixes. I do one piece of each.

Sometimes, I feel God leading me to put in some extra, and I do it. It's all about Him anyway.

People who wouldn't accept a tract are happy to get a bag of Driver Candy. I call it that because I started by giving it to my Metrolift paratransit, and Metro bus drivers.

I absolutely feel I am doing what God has led me to do. I do not give the driver candy to diabetic drivers, though. I don't want to hurt them!