Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Lesson in Kindness



"The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one 
of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'"
-Matthew 25:40



Yesterday, my husband came home smelling of gasoline, and I asked him if he'd filled up our tank and accidentally spilled some on himself. He said that he hadn't, and that the reason he smelled like gasoline was because he had helped out an older woman on the side of the road who had run out of gas. He gave her a ride to the gas station, where she bought a few gallons of gasoline, and then drove her back to her car on the side of the road.

I wasn't too surprised--this is the sort of kind thing my husband does all the time--but a smile of gladness crept on my face nonetheless. He doesn't think twice about helping another human being in need, and this is one of the things I love about him.

I would like to think that if I had been in his position I would have stopped, taken 20 minutes out of my day, and helped her out. But I'm just not sure I would have. As a woman, I wouldn't have felt as comfortable as my husband letting a stranger in the car, but I could have helped her in other ways. Let her borrow my cell phone if she didn't have one on her, or driven to the gas station myself to buy some gas for her. Still, I'm embarrassed to admit, I'm not sure it would have even crossed my mind to stop to help. I probably would have assumed that she had someone on the way, or that someone else driving by would pull over and help her.

I'm quite sure that not stopping to help did not cross my husband's mind. He is much kinder than me, and he inspires me all the time to become a more generous person, a more giving person, a better person.


9 comments:

  1. What an awesome thing for your husband to do...we need more people like that out there :)

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  2. This is an amazing story! Your hubby sounds like such a keeper!

    xx amy
    Leopard and Lillies

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  3. such a great lesson to learn...I, too, would hope I would take time out to help someone, but I can't be too sure. We all need to follow his lead :)

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  4. Kate, He takes after his NY grandfather who was always helping strangers out... one Easter morning, as we drove from NY to NJ to celebrate with our cousins, he pulled over to help a vehicle that was on the shoulder... after deciding he could not help the guy fix his problem, he put their whole family in our car and drove them to the place they were going for Easter...

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    1. Karen, that's such a fantastic story!! Sounds like he really acted in the Easter spirit. What a good character trait to inherit!

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  5. Your husband is so kind! I completely agree with you though, I always stop to think about helping someone who seems like they need help but I think twice about it because I'm not comfortable with the idea. However, I don't ever think twice about helping stray dogs though..!

    PS. I'd love it if you could visit my blog and follow me if you like it!! :)

    -Stephanie
    @LaminLouboutins.blogspot.com

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    1. That's so cute that you help stray dogs, Stephanie!

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  6. Hello Kate,
    I came across your blog through a comment you left on A Cup of Jo. I love stumbling upon other Christian women who enjoy writing about life and all that it entails. It seems like you do this well!
    I'll look forward to future posts. :)
    And thank you for this reminder: joyfully serving the least of these is also serving Christ. I hope I would have stopped.
    Natalie

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    1. Hi Natalie! Thank you so much for your comment! I love reading A Cup of Jo and have also found many wonderful blogs through the commenters. Stumbling upon other Christian women in the blog world is really a blessing--it's nice to be able to share our thoughts on life! Thank you for following along :)

      Kate

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