Pay it Forward...

I'm sure we have all been in those situations where we've needed something and someone has generously given without a second thought. One of the most surpising times like that came for me a week after Alexis came home from the hospital. I was standing in line at Hardings buying her 5 cans of preemie formula when the gentleman in front of me turned and saw it. He started asking me questions all about her and if I had other kids. We continued talking as we moved up the line and he said he had 4 kids also that were all grown now but remembered how hectic it was when they were young like my kids. We chatted back and forth until it was his turn to checkout. When the cashier told him his total, he pointed at my formula and said "I'm paying for that as well". At first I just chuckled along with the cashier thinking he was kidding until he made it clear he was serious and wanted to pay for my 5 cans of formula. I tried to tell him no thank you graciously because I knew it was expensive, but he insisted. Originally his total would have been $7 with just the few things he bought, but after my items were added on his new total was $85! I thanked him over and over and he just smiled and said "No problem, I'm a christian". After that he walked out the door and I just stood there in shock. As I drove home, I immediately started thinking about how to find out who this good samaritan was so I could send him a proper thank you (you all know me and my thank you cards!). After a valiant attempt, I came up empty handed and instead knew the best way to thank him was to "pay it forward".
With it being Christmas season, I found many opportunities to contribute to others. Our church did "The Big Give", which provided Christmas presents, winter gear (hats, gloves, coats, etc...) and other neccessities to families in need. Volunteers also delivered food to families and went around to nursing homes to sing Christmas carols. The church also took up a donation and raised over $20,000 and gave a portion of it to help build 2 wells in Africa and provide shoes for 1500 people over there!
I was also able to help one of my friends who does a Christmas outreach at the school he teaches at. He started the program called KidsCare a few years ago, and this year provided all the Christmas gifts and other needs to 29 families, thanks to groups of people in their community volunteering their time, money and effort. I helped him hand out and deliver gifts to a few of these families.
Just knowing all the lives that were touched from people being generous warms my heart. It's people like that who absolutely inspire me to be more appreciative for what I have and help unselfishly. In our lives, I am sure all of us at one point have been touched by or helped out by someone else... have you payed it forward yet?