Simple Blessings

It’s amazing when someone pours into your life. I don’t often get that experience in day to day interactions, but on those rare occasions when it happens, it is something very special and meant to be treasured.

I had one of those experiences recently. It came when I was in a place where I was not expecting much. In fact, I was prepared for disappointment. I came with hopes knowing they would be dashed and a weight of baggage I was stumbling to carry.

And then I met two wonderful people that spoke to me in such a way I can’t even express it in the right words. It was more than just a smile or a wave or a handshake. It was much more than an encouraging word. It was the fact that they saw me where I was and wanted to be there with me. It didn’t matter that it took time out of their schedule or that I was outside of the “office hours.” They stopped. They saw. And they sat down and listened.

Then they invested their time. They waited for me, holding my hand through all the questions and confusion and I cannot thank them enough for that. There are no words to truly describe that point where you expect nothing and end up getting so much more than you ever thought was possible. It’s like the moment you realize that God really did come in human form to spend time with messed-up human beings. It’s hard to wrap your head around.

Even now I can’t stop thinking of it or crying over the experience because I am so overcome with their generosity. Time is valuable, especially these days, and I don’t want to make light of anyone’s sacrifice, even small ones. Sometimes it’s the small acts of generosity we stop to make on a daily basis that are the most important, like the smile or kind word you continue to give someone who never smiles back. But when that smile is given to someone who is in a dark place, even if you don’t know they are there, that small act of kindness ends up meaning so much more. Those are the times when a small gift is magnified ten-fold. And we never know when that might be for someone or who they are.

I will never forget the experience I had or those that chose to stop and listen and invest in that moment. And they will never truly know how deep their sacrifice of time and space meant because no words will ever be enough to express it. But the fact that they did stop is an example I hope to follow and pass on.