Random Acts of Kindness

My day started great on Monday. I had plenty of time to get Ariel a new suit for water polo and get her there early to boot. After taking the kids into Marshalls, finding a suit at a great price, and checking out, I realized one of the two things I came in with was missing: my keys. I had only gone in a few aisles, so I thought they should be easy to find. After over half an hour of searching and enlising the help of an employee, my heart sank. I wanted to cry. Making matters worse, for the first time I had forgotten to bring my cell phone with me, so I couldn't call anyone. Abi said "Mom, do you think we should say a prayer?" So, we did. Not longer than five minutes later, I learned from an employee that someone had found my keys and turned them in. We thanked Heavenly Father and headed on our way to water polo - twenty minutes late. I thought my day was just going to be shot.

After praying over pizza and hot dogs with my kids at dinner time in Costco, a middle-aged, affluent-looking man walked over to our table, set a wad of bills next to me and said "I'd like to pay for your dinner" and walked off. I thanked him, but that was all I had time to say as he hurried off. I was SHOCKED! I thought of all the things I could have said, or asked him, after it was too late, of course. My kids were just as shocked as I was.

I don't know why he did it. Because I'm such a sarcastic person, my first thought was "I must look like a homeless woman with four raggedy looking kids." That thought left me as I looked at each of my well-dressed and groomed kids smiling at me. My second thought was "He must be a Christian, saw us praying, and felt inclined to bless us knowing we were following the same lifestyle as his own." Or, perhaps, it was an angel sent to prove to my children and me that whenever you rely on Heavenly Father you will be blessed. Whatever the reason, I am so grateful to this man for teaching my children how wonderful it is to bless others without looking for something in return. It made me want to randomly bless someone else. (Come to think of it, THAT was probably the whole point!)