Unexpected Kindness

Photo courtesy of Tom Keenan at Lightstock.

I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love. To them I was like one who lifts a little child to the cheek, and I bent down to feed them. 

-Hosea 11:4 

Unexpected kindness is something I have not witnessed in the recent months, until yesterday. I was in the grocery store trying to find some ice cream with which to mix my son's antibiotic and my arms were already full. I didn't get a basket when I entered the store because I didn't think I would be purchasing that much.

Well, you know how that goes. After you walk through so many aisles you see more things you need or probably more accurately, just want. One of the most tempting treats in the grocery store was the 1/2 price Christmas candy. I just couldn't walk past those Hershey's Kisses and M&M's that were on sale without grabbing a bag, especially since I am pregnant; that makes it doubly tempting!

Anyhoo, I am in the ice cream aisle trying to decide what is the best kind of ice cream to purchase for my son. Should I buy something new or stick with something I know works? I notice a teenager and her mom out of the corner of my eye and I hear her say something like, "I want to help her." I didn't think at the moment she was referring to me. I was just trying to balance the fun food I had accumulated in my trek from one side of the store to the other.

After ten minutes of taking ice cream in and out of the freezer, I am still looking. At one point, I dropped the Breyer's Cookies and Cream that I had picked up. I put it back. Do you ever do anything like that? I always struggle with, "Should I purchase it because I dropped it or should I just put it back because it is not something I really want?"

So, I am standing there deciding and this girl, probably about thirteen comes up to me and asks me if I want her cart. I was like, "Sure! Thank you!" I was so shocked that somebody would help me, much less a teenager. I was very grateful because I was carrying so much but also because I had witnessed a child who had some manners and a heart. She saw someone in need and just did a very simple thing by giving me her cart. She and her mom would have had to empty it first and then she would have to bring it back to me. Wow! Kindness...in the grocery store....to somebody you don't know.

Thank you Lord for that demonstration. Thank you Lord for what you are going to do in the girl's life. My prayer for her is that you will bless her and her family and help them to continue on the path of kindness and love. As I got in the car, I told my husband what happened and how I hoped so much that our children would be like that. My hope and desire as a mom is for my children to step outside themselves, recognize a need in others, and be Jesus whenever he leads.