A Simple Act of Kindness

“Hi, Brenda”, said the order taker. “The usual today?”

“You know me”, Brenda replied.

The fast food restaurant was busy.

“It’ll take just a minute today.I’ll bring it out to you, Brenda.”

She had eaten lunch at the restaurant every day for the last month. The staff thought she must work nearby.

They didn’t know the real story of how their kindness had impacted one woman’s life…

The real story started late one morning in Brenda’s home…

There wasn’t much food left in the refrigerator. She should go to the grocery store.  But that seemed like a lot of work, and she didn’t have much of an appetite anyway.

Had she eaten breakfast?  She wasn’t sure.

In fact she might have skipped dinner last night, too.

She could go out to lunch.  Maybe a fast food restaurant where she could use the drive through and speak to a disembodied voice on the speaker, no personal contact required.

“Pull up to the first window.”

Brenda swallowed hard.  She’d have to talk to someone in person.  The effort didn’t seem worth the trouble, but she couldn’t leave the drive-through lane.

“Thank you,” she said when the young woman handed her the paper bag containing her lunch.

“My pleasure”, the worker replied with a smile.

Brenda had almost forgotten that people still smiled.

She took the food home and set it on the kitchen counter. It sat there for hours.

About six o’clock, she made a decision.  “Well, I could heat it in the microwave. And so she did and for the first time in three days, Brenda ate dinner.

At lunchtime the next day,  she planned to go through the drive through again.
The drive through line was long, but there were plenty of spaces in the lot.

Brenda took a deep breath and parked  in one of the spaces.  She left the safety of her car and went inside.

“What’s the name for the order?” the clerk asked.

“Brenda” she answered.

“Thanks, Brenda, your order will be ready in just a minute.”

“Brenda.” It was the first time she had heard anybody use her name in days.

From that day, Brenda ate lunch at the restaurant every day.

A month later, Brenda brought her adult son to the restaurant.

As they left, he said, “I’ll be there in just a minute, Mom”.

With tears in his eyes, he approached the manager.

“You will never know what you did for my mom.”

“Dad died a while ago. M om didn’t leave the house for weeks.  She started coming here and kept coming back because you were so friendly.  Now Mom’s back with her friends and family but she took her first step here. Thank you.”

Whose life will you touch today?

Dear God, keep our eyes and our hearts open for the chance to honor you by showing your kindness and love to everyone you put in our path today. 

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted… Ephesians 4:32

Remember there’s no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end. Scott Adams