Kindness... and an Old Pair of Shoes
Some years ago I was sitting in the office of the Pajaro Rescue Mission in Watsonville, California. During the years I was going to college, I was the director of a ministry team that went to the mission once each month to conduct an evening service. On this occasion I was talking with the Superintendent of the mission who was named Mr. Baker. In the corner of the office, I saw am old pair of very worn shoes. They had obviously seen many footsteps as they were devoid of polish, and had holes in the soles. The laces had knots here and there to hold them together.
Superintendent Baker must have noticed me looking at the old worn pair of shoes. He said "Let me tell you the story of those shoes." He related how a man had come into the mission to seek food and possibly shelter from the cold winter night. The man had not only been fed but had been given a pair of shoes that had been donated to the mission. In response to the acts of kindness at the mission, he stayed on to assist Mr. Baker and left behind the life of alcohol addiction that had destroyed much of his life.
I have often thought of the visit in that office. It has helped me remember that the gift of kindness in time given or a word of encouragement can make a change in the life of another person. I have tried to make acts of kindness a practice in my life. Not only does it change others it changes me!
Keep Looking Up!
Dan
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Hey, Mike, thanks for the comment. Those random acts always return home with greater blessing.
Amen! - - Acts of kindness make the other person feel good and make you feel good as well. Your story is a blessing as well as a reminder to us all.
As the Bible teaches, you reap what you sow (harvest what you plant), you reap MORE than what you sow, and you reap later than you sow. Sometimes the "harvest" is almost immediate, but most often it is later - - - sometimes from very unexpected sources!
Hey, Bill, thanks for your comment. You obviously know the principle. The reaping many times is in the lives of the people we touch. There is no greater reward! Have a great day!
What a great story you wrote, Dan, to illustrate such an important principle about the law of kindness. Thanks for sharing this beautifully written post.
And it feels good too. I love to make others feel good, it pays me back in so many unnoticed (at least at the moment) ways! Since you reap what you sow, I suppose sowing kindness and warmth brings it right back to you!
Terea, I totally agree. Sowing and reaping is an undeniable biblical law. Many just say what goes around comes around but we can control what comes our way! Thanks for your comment.
Great story you have told here! It feels sometimes like we are going through the worst thing that can happen to anybody. But we are so wrong! Life is so full of uncertainty, that we don't know what will happen tomorrow. Do you think people on the streets are like that because they want to? Hell no! You never know what they have been through. And a simple act of kindness, with a good piece of advice can make a change on those people's life, even when you are not there to notice it. But be aware that if you take just a couple of minutes to say something to that person can forever change their fate. And even if you are not there to see it, you will feel a great feeling of accomplishment, because you did the right thing, and trust me, that person will always be grateful with you, that somebody that took some of his time to change their life forever. That's something that's worth more than money.
Raúl
People like you are the reasons I am still in WAU. I have not earned one penny yet, but I know this is a great community I want to stay. Thank you for
sharing!
Time really is the most valuable thing you have and to give it willingly to someone else is one of the best things you can do.
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Your kindness compels God to b kind with you.
Vimal, Thank you for the comment. I do believe as we bless others God blesses us.