I hope this new story reminds you of the goodness that is in us all.

The kindness in a human heart is a beautiful thing to see. I had just dropped my son off at the sheltered workshop where he works a few days a week and on my way home decided to pull into a local grocery store and pick up a few odds and ends that I had run out of. I was also hoping that the prices hadn’t gone up yet again. As I walked up to the glass doors I saw the donation box from a local food pantry sitting by the shopping carts. It didn’t have much in it and most people walked by it without looking at it. I had walked by it a few times myself.

Just as I started to pull out my cart, however, I saw her. It was a young Mom wearing a tattered, old coat. Holding on to either side of the coat were two children under the age of 5 and in the cart was a baby. Her shopping cart wasn’t very full. Yet, she stopped at the donation box, pulled out a bag full of boxes of macaroni and cheese and dropped it in. She turned to me and smiled then she headed out the door. I watched her in awe. As she loaded her kids into her rusty, 20 year old car a sense of peace and serenity settled into my soul. And I thanked God for letting me see the kindness that can come from a human heart.

I walked through the aisles thinking of that woman and couldn’t help but smile. I knew too that all of Heaven must have been smiling down on her as well. And I didn’t let her lesson go unheeded. I filled a bag full of canned vegetables and ravioli. Then as I walked out the door I added it to her donation. I drove home with my heart singing, feeling a little closer to kindness, a little closer to love, and a little closer to God.

The kindness that lives in the human heart is a beautiful thing. Don’t neglect yours. God wants you to share it. God wants you to Love. God wants you to help other people and make this world a better place. Kindness is the true wealth in this life and its greatest joy.