We didn’t have much as a family while I was growing up. When my parents divorced things got worse. We were poor. I went to work to help out when I was fourteen. I didn’t see the money from any of my paychecks until I turned sixteen when thing got a bit better. There is one incident that has stuck in my mind through all these years. This “RAK” or “random act of kindness” influenced me to become a better person and to try to return in kind what we received one evening.

It was during Christmas time when I was fifteen. It was the Saturday before the second Sunday of Advent. My mom, sister and I had accepted the task of created banner to be hung in church each Sunday during Advent that year. We were sitting around the dining room table reading through Bible passages to get ideas for the banner. I can still see everything in my mind that night. The Christmas lights were lit. We had a fire going in the fireplace to help chase the chill away in the house since we kept the temperature below what most consider comfortable during the cold winters here in Illinois to save on the heating bill. There were classic Christmas songs playing on the stereo; Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and so on.

Mom had explained to us while we worked that there was not enough money to “have” a Christmas that year. There would just be enough for a small Christmas dinner and to pay the bills. My sister and I knew things weren’t good financially with mom. Neither one of us said anything or complained about the situation. We just sat as a family and continued to work on coming up with a wonderful banner to celebrate the coming of Christ’s birth.

Out of the blue, there was a knock on the front door. We weren’t expecting anyone. As we all had our hands full, it took mom a minute to stop cutting felt and get to the door. When she opened the door, there was no one there. In that short two minutes to get to the door, who ever had knocked had disappeared. Just as she was about to close the front door, mom noticed an envelope stuck in the screen door. She brought the envelope in and opened it. She started to have tears stream down her face. In the envelope was three hundred dollars. There was no note. There was nothing to give us a clue as to who this angel of Christmas was. Because of this “angel” we had a very special Christmas. We never found who was responsible for this wonderful gift.

This person had a tremendous effect on my life. Since that cold December evening, I told myself that I wanted and I would become just like that person. I would randomly give of myself without expectation or the need for recognition.

I have done this to my best ability over the years and I will continue to do thing like this until my time here is done. Random acts of kindness don’t have to be about giving large sums of money. It could be just a simple compliment you give someone or lending them a hand to help them out. It is about doing a little something for someone to bring a smile to their face. Many of the thing I do I never get to see the reaction of the receiving person. I don’t need that to happen. It is satisfying for me to know that I have done a little something that sparked a little joy in someone’s life.

I would like to challenge everyone reading this to do one RAK in the next few days. A few simple things I have done are:

At times, I drop the change I get back at the Supermarket in the parking lot. I think of the wonder and joy a child would get finding a nickel, dime or quarter.

I love to shop for cards. So when I know that no one is looking, I will slip a dollar bill in a card and place it back in the rack.

Even something simple as holding a door open for someone can make their day.

Sharing love and kindness toward others is what Jesus taught over and over. Yet, in our modern times we get so wrapped up in just trying to survive that at times we tend to forget that. So think about sharing a little of God’s love and kindness through a random act of kindness and you will also share in the joy of the gift that you gave.

~ The Quiet Computer Guy