The Kindness of Strangers

So often I think we overlook the good a simple, small gesture of kindness can do.

Saturday morning I was flying back home from a visit with a dear friend. I had spent a week with her, her 3 sweet boys, and my two munchkins. All the kids got colds, but had a lot of fun, and NOT a lot of sleep! So here I was, flying home with two tired (exhausted) sick kids...
Squeak (age 1) wanted to just climb around and explore--not sit docilely on my lap for 3.5 hours. I did my best to distract and entertain her, but I was really tired too. After a while, a woman came by and introduced herself. She too was a mom of two young ones, but they weren't with her on this flight. She offered to take Squeak for 10 minutes or so to give me a break. Normally, I would have thanked her and told her I was fine. But this time, I needed the break for sure. I handed Squeak over and she took her for a walk down the aisle.
I cried. Having that stranger offer to give me a 10 minute break just meant so much to a tired mom. I don't know if she has any idea how much she blessed me. More than just a few minutes to rest my tired arms and read a magazine article without worrying about the page being ripped away and chewed up, it was that someone cared about me. Someone left their comfort zone to give me a break with nothing in return. It was a gift.

May you be blessed by the kindness of strangers. May you be the stranger who does the blessing. You never know how you may touch someone in need.
Merry Christmas
Love,
Dawn