Cast your bread----Marcia's little true story
I think Oprah had this thing called Random act of kindness one year...
You know..where you come upon someone needing something and on impulse you help them out....
I grew up in a family that practiced ( my dad being a minister) PURPOSEFUL ACTS of KINDESS>...
It was not random, it was not an accident...it was carefully trained and thought out acts of kindness and
helpfulness. We were taught that that's what a Christian does...to show our love for God and fellow man....
You see a need, you fill it...and you don't pray for blindness but for light to see the need....
Once this family came to our house begging for food and gas money to get to some place..My dad invited the man in and
they spoke in the den...As the man left he said thank you...
In the meantime....
My mom took our Sunday pot roast and she and I made sandwiches and took it out to the hungry little
children (there were at least 6 little dirty faces in the car...perhaps more...filthy dirty clothes and hair, fingers that had
not seen a bar of soap anytime soon...) As they drove off with our Sunday lunch... I asked my
mom...That was OUR dinner mom and you know all the bums know to stop here and beg money from dad to get to
where every they are going and they spread the word to stop at the churches that will donate cash to beggars..
Yes , my mom said... but you know...those CHILDREN
don't have a choice and they were hungry and I will not see a child go hungry ever.... and we turned and walked inside to find
what else we could have for Sunday supper since our dinner just went tooling down the road with some dirty faced
children. I was a bit puzzled that she could not have just made pbj's for them and left the pot roast alone...
So I grew up with that kind of weird family..The kind that gives their own dinner away to people who ask...so is
it any wonder how I turned out? My weird family was the whole cast your bread upon the
waters and after many days you will find it family... Me being a smart mouth would tell my dad..yeah but
it's probably be soggy.. it took many years before I realized the lesson of love my
parents had shown me... So with that on my mind ...I was in the local store the other day wandering around
looking at the baby section for a friends upcoming baby....I heard this woman in the isle stop a clerk..
Excuse me she said, I am looking for school supplies and toys...Do you have any that are at a reduced rate or
perhaps the box is broken or something? The woman was well dressed and well spoken..The clerk
was slightly annoyed and bordered on rude... No...just check the sales isles she said. The woman continued...
Is there anyone I can speak with..some one that can help?? You see... my daughter is in Afghanistan...and she is
trying to get some school supplies and toys for the little children. As usual I did not mind my own business and walked over
to her.. All I had was two Twenty dollar bills in my pocket...but I fished them out and said "here!" and
started to walk away. She looked confused. Did she drop them and I found them? No I said...I overheard your conversation
with the clerk. Use this money to buy some school supplies to send to your daughter. Oh no no..she said, almost in tears and seemly
overwhelmed... Look I said.....My son just got back from Iraq...I support our troops..any way
I can...and God bless your daughter for being over there and for thinking of these little children.
And I have mailing boxes so come by my office to get them to use to mail to your daughter...My son is now home safe
and I won't need them..(little did I know) We continued to chat and she told me her daughter is a
single parent and joined to guard and now instead of being safe in America she has been sent to Afghanistan.. and this
lady (in her 50's I would venture) is raising the child until her daughter comes home. She told me that the one school
had already been bombed and all the school supplies lost so she was starting again to gather supplies for the
children.. As we chatted the woman said...you know..you really look familiar...She told me her name and it vaguely rang a
bell but then she said she was a teacher and taught at a certain school. I told her my son's name and she said Oh my gosh!!! you are Joel's
mom!!! I remember him!! He was a wonderful kid..just one of those kids you really really like...
.Turns out this woman was Joel's 5th grade teacher. After about 45mins and a few tears and well wishes I
went on my way...She told me it was so nice to met a parent that understood as so many people just did not realize what
it was like to raise a child and then have that child be in danger from war.. and seeing the anti war protests were like a
knife right through her heart. So as I sit here at the computer, waiting to hear if my son isbeing sent back to Iraq I am thinking
about acts of kindness and how we really are connected to each other in oh so many ways we can not even begin to imagine...
I would like to encourage everyone to participate in purposeful acts of kindness to anyone you run across.. You never know how you
might be connected to them or how it will all turn out but it really IS a small world after all....
And remember Cast your bread upon the waters and after many days you will find it... Hopefully not too soggy
either...
