Saturday, January 19, 2013

#13— A Little Time for a Stranger

26 Expressions of Love and Kindness Plus 1
#13— A Little Time for  a Stranger

            Sometimes an expression of kindness can simply be sharing some minutes out of your day to listen to someone else.  I had the privilege of touching someone this way (and receiving the same courtesy) just this week. 

            I made arrangements to meet with a delightful woman I was acquainted with several years ago.  She has reached a different stage in her life and had some questions for me.  (In other words, I am much older, and she wanted to talk to someone who has been there and done that.)  Conveniently, we met at a fast food restaurant about half way between our two towns. 

           
            Regardless whether I was of any help to her or not, I was energized and refreshed after our two-hour discussion that sped by before we knew it.  However, my emphasis is not on this discussion, but on the one that followed.  After we expressed our good-byes and I was gathering up my things, a woman from a table nearby came over to me.  "I'm sorry that I overheard part of your discussion.  I was not meaning to eavesdrop, but can I ask you some questions, too?"

            Apparently our original discussion was exactly the same topic that this woman had been discussing with a couple of her friends over the past few weeks.  Isn't it amazing how we "happened" to be sitting there together?  God knew who needed to talk to whom that day.  Well, I spent a few minutes discussing the topic on her mind, but then she went on to tell me an hour's worth of semi-related stories while her husband read the newspaper in the next booth.  This delightful woman obviously had a lot on her mind, and I will probably remember some of the things that she shared for a long time. 

            Although I had no obligation to listen to this stranger and had no promise of financial gain by doing so, my expression of kindness to listen to her ended up touching me—and my husband since I went home and shared some of her stories—and all it took was a little of my time.

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