Friday evening we were sitting on the porch listening to the birds and feeling the cool breeze. It had gotten rather chilly outside, so my husband was snuggled up in two blankets, which was most unusual for him and I had one. My daughter was fine with the cool air and my granddaughter was too busy to be cold.
Stella, 6 years old, was bustling around like she always does, working on first one thing and then another. She was sitting near me conversing about her day, when she decided to get up and go do something else. As she got up from her seat, she stepped over to me and very gently pulled the blanket until it covered my feet, gave it a little tuck, and then went on her way, without a word.
Three days later, I am still moved by her simple gesture.
Why has a simple gesture touched my heart so? Is it because I’m usually the one taking care of everyone else’s needs? This little sweetheart, who I would never have expected to even notice, did something so simple that it touched my heart. She was taking care of her NaaNaa, just the way I take care of her. It was such a precious and tender moment for me. I’ll never forget it.
I remembered, when I was about 21 years old, visiting an elderly lady who was home, sick and in bed. Sara had never married and with me were her younger, yet old, sisters, who also, had never married. We were standing around her bed, talking and visiting. She was a little lady with white hair who had spent her life in service to others and here she was reduced to this frail creature.
As we talked, I noticed tears streaming down her face. I didn’t know if she was crying or her eyes were simply running. I was standing close to her, so, I took a kleenex and dried her cheeks. She looked at me with gratitude, smiled and turned to her sisters and said with a thankful voice “she wiped my tears!” She said it three or four times. “She wiped my tears!” It was such a simple gesture, from my perspective, but to her, it was an act of kindness and love. Sara died not long afterward. I never forgot how much a simple gesture meant to her.
I’ve begun to wonder, since Stella’s sweet gesture to me Friday, if our lives are not measured by the simple things we do for others? Opening the door for someone, pushing the cart back to the rack, saying please and thank you, giving a compliment to someone toiling away on a thankless job, like the teller in a window, or the salesperson on the phone with your catalog order.
It probably would mean so much if we simply told them they did a great job and thank you for being so helpful. It’s the little things that bring pleasure to life. And sometimes those things can make all the difference. A smile costs nothing but could mean so much to someone feeling all alone. Just a simple word can make someone’s day.
Isn’t that what Jesus meant when he said “…if anyone offers a cup of water, in my name, he will not lose his reward.” A simple gesture of love and concern, counts. He wasn’t talking about going around passing out water to people…He was talking about acts of kindness.
Jesus’ simple gesture of writing words in the sand made a life and death difference in one woman’s life.
A simple word…”Go and sin no more.” changed her life forever.
That’s what I’m talking about. Are our lives somehow measured by the simple things we do for others? I think so. This past Friday, a simple gesture opened my eyes to things I had never thought about.
We don’t have to live great and mighty lives to make a difference …we only have to give, what we have to give. No more, no less. A word, a smile, an act of kindness can make all the difference in someone’s life. I believe we can change the world, or at least our home, work and community… one simple gesture at a time.
What can we find to do this day to lighten a load or make someone feel like they are worthy? They are and they deserve to know it. A simple gesture says to the person, you are of great value to me. What better gift can we give?
