Today, before visiting my Gran with my dad, I took my children to a family fast food restaurant to grab a quick bite for lunch before running some errands. Whilst there we witnessed a Samoan family coming together with a cake to celebrate a teenage girl's birthday together with a guitar and there may have been about 10 of them.
They sang the birthday song in Samoan which we also joined in discretely from our corner and there were also a few speeches said in Samoan. This reminded me of many scenes when my dad would do similarly at various restaurants growing up where we would celebrate and sing songs in Samoan, prayers and speeches etc for various occasions. Sometimes I'd be a bit shy but I'd just go with it.
Instantly, I thought about my dad and I knew that he would have had thoughts to sow money into the occasion and give some $ to the birthday girl. I was out of cash and had given both my older two $20 each to spend and asked them about how they felt about giving it as we left the restaurant. One had brought the $ in the pocket but was too shy to give it, and so the other gave it to the birthday girl as we left the restaurant.
The family members were very surprised and we wished the birthday girl a very happy birthday as we walked out of the restaurant but when we opened the door, we saw a man seated on the ground silently. I had an unfinished ice cream in my hand that I passed it on to him and apologised as I didn't have any cash on me.
It wasn't until I got into the car and saw the guy waving goodbye and smiling that my oldest expressed about how neat it was to do something that would see someone smiling and I was surprised when she said that she had given him the $20 as she would have only spent it on something that she probably didn't really need.
Needless to say that I was tearful and didn't want to show it as I realised that the demonstrations of my granma and parents love and generousity of giving things away without expecting anything back (R.A.K. Random acts of kindness) when no one else was looking reminded me that as we demonstrated it to our children then they would do the same too. As I'd often watch my granma and parents give away food, money etc. often to those who needed it more.
The challenge for me in the restaurant was that I was reminded about my dad's generousity and I had a choice to either do something about it or to just think about it and not do anything but in acting on it, I was blessed by my children's selfless act and so was another who probably least expected it.
Sometimes I've been too busy to act on thoughts or have walked away in being too busy or with other priorities but we never know why people would choose to be sit outside shopping areas, wash car windows on busy roads or walk up to people asking for coins etc. I just know that if I were in a similar situation for whatever reason that I would wish for someone to have mercy/love on me.
The Challenge: Now, would you do the same?...
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