Tuesday, February 2, 2010

People Notice the Small Gestures

a repost from The Christian Dollar...

Today I stood in the line at Walmart, waiting to check out my groceries. Yes, I was grocery shopping – first time by myself since I’ve been married. But that wasn’t the most profound thing.

Somebody dropped a $10 bill on the floor. I didn’t see them do it, but I guessed it was the person who just finished with the cashier ahead of me. A couple of things went through my mind.

A brief second of greed went through my human heart. The dark kind of side – you know – the side that makes you want to keep things for yourself and do the WRONG THING.

Nobody would notice. Nobody saw the person ahead of me drop it. Nobody was watching . . . .

I got ahold of myself and decided that if I was to be Christlike, I better let the cashier know about it. So I picked it up off the ground and gave it to her. An employee was able to track down the person who dropped it.

I looked back at the line behind me and it was about 5 people long. I wonder what they were thinking? I wonder if that simple action influenced them?

I’m no saint, but it got me thinking about the small gestures in life. Every time you do something small, I believe people notice.

The other day, our car stopped functioning at a gas station due to battery failure. A few good friends were kind enough to give us a jumpstart. The amazing thing was that they lived on the opposite side of town – quite a distance! We noticed the sacrifice they made that day. To them, it probably wasn’t much. To us, it meant the world!

The quality of doing the right thing in minor situations can have a profound impact on those around you. What are you going to do today?

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