Loving Acts of Kindness Witnessed

I saw some heartwarming actions over the past week at local food pantry locations. Three situations especially touched my heart. These all happened on a very cold and windy and raw morning. The food to be distributed was all outside, as usual, at this location, but this particular morning, it was colder than usual.

One young mother noticed that another mother’s little girl was beginning to look cold even though she had a warm hoodie over her top. They were both immediately behind me in line. Let’s call them Mother O (she was maybe 5 years older than the other mother) and Mother Y (the younger one). Mother O nudged her own daughter, about 3 years older than hoodie-daughter, and they asked us to hold their place, and they went back to their own car and brought back an extra jacket, a big one, nice and roomy and it went around the younger girl and warmed her considerably. They did not have to do that - that was the first thing.

Mother O and Mother Y chatted a bit. Mother Y had only come into our state about 5 months before and was still trying to find the “right” school for her daughter. Mother O began sharing with Mother Y a few schools that she knew of because of her own daughter and Mother Y made notes on her gadget. Mother O could have simply kept quiet and not bothered. That was the second thing.

Mother O also shared with a few of us in line the names and locations of a few other places we might find helpful. Once again, she did not need to do that. That was the third thing.

One other mother came up to the sidewalk curb, struggling to get her baby’s buggy up the curb and onto the sidewalk so she could get in line. Three different, unrelated folks in line went right over to help her nudge the cumbersome thing up onto the sidewalk.

I was amazed and delighted at all these acts of kindness. They weren’t magnificent gestures; they were small and simple things. Each person could have kept to themselves, dwelling on the situations that led them to be in a food distribution line, not caring about the others. The magnificent part was that they helped others. How great is that?

Father, thank you for those who care about others. Thank you for the ones who show us that even the smallest gesture of kindness can warm our hearts and inspire us to do likewise. Thank you.