Teachable Moments of Kindness

Friday, I dropped off Mitchell at preschool, ran a few quick errands and came home to start cooking supper for our friends Glenn and Irene and their family.

You see, Glenn has Multiple Myeloma, a bone marrow cancer. Adding insult to injury, Glenn went into kidney failure and spent six days in the hospital. He's home now and had to undergo dialysis to help his kidneys. He's also going to chemo treatments twice a week. Next week, he starts rounds that will possibly cause him to lose his hair.

So, I came home and made salad, pork loin, fresh green beans and a pumpkin crisp. I also picked up some mashed potatoes (which I don't even make for my own family!). I picked up Mitchell from preschool, and we drove out to Glenn and Irene's home to drop off the supper. The boys played with their four kiddos for hours! It was great to spend time with them, even if it did take almost two hours to get home. Gotta love that rush hour traffic!

Saturday, Mitchell and I went to a birthday party and stopped on the way home to pick up a hamburger for Paul. I ordered a cheeseburger in case one of the boys saw Paul's and decided he needed a burger too.

As I was getting Mitchell secured in the car, I saw a homeless man walking through the parking lot. For an instant, our eyes met. I watched him walk around the corner from the burger joint and sit on the steps of a tire-change place.

I drove my car around the corner and rolled down my window and asked if he was waiting for someone. He said no. Then I asked if he'd like a cheeseburger. He lit up and walked over and accepted the cheeseburger from me. The weather was going to be cold Saturday night, so all I thought of the rest of the night was this gentle-looking man in his thin jacket, out in the cold.

This afternoon, after church, we went to lunch with a friend and their two kiddos. The restaurant was crowded and we couldn't find two tables close enough to push together. There was a dad there with his two teen-age sons. I asked if he'd be willing to move to another table so we could push his table together with an empty one so we could all sit together. He kindly said yes.

I hope that all three of these instances help teach Mitchell that we can be kind to people we know and people we don't know who need our help - and that people will be kind to us too.