Before we came to Germany and even more so since we’ve arrived, I’ve had such a tug on my heart to help others. I see people in need and my heart breaks. I know I can’t fix it all but I want to take them all home with me and help them. We were driving home the other day and we saw a man being arrested on the sidewalk near a stop light. He looked like a homeless man. He was dirty and looked so scared and just helpless. My heart broke. I wanted to get out of the car and just hug him and tell him it would be okay and that someone cared. The police were not being mean to him but he just looked defeated. I cried and began to pray for this man. There is so much need in our society and when things are going well in your own life and you’re comfortable, it’s easy to forget that it’s not the “norm.”

We drove on and went on with our day. We headed to a cafe for lunch. The kids played and I was watching the others around us, wondering how do I teach my kids this isn’t the “norm.” How do I foster a compassion in them to help others. To see people in need and want to help them? They’ve never known what is means to be in need. They’ve had their own kind of struggles that come with having a father in the military but at the end of the day their needs are met and they are shown love each day and know that their is a God who above all else loves them. So many people don’t have that. I am so grateful and feel beyond blessed to be where we are. This world is filled with so much hopelessness.

There was a couple in the coffee shop and they had a son with them who was in a wheel chair. He was older, maybe a late teen, young adult. It didn’t look like he could communicate with his parents. He would make some noise and his mother or father would stop what they were doing and feed him or offer him a drink, which they would have to pour in his mouth because he couldn’t do it himself. You could see their love for him, how they cared for him. I began to pray for them while we ate. That God would bless them and just be with them through their daily life.

Then I felt a real tug on my heart to buy their lunch for them. We were ready to leave and I went up to the waitress to tell her I wanted to pay for their food. This didn’t translate well in German so it took me talking to four different staff members until someone understood what I wanted to do. I told her not to tell them I did it, I paid and we left. We started walking down the street and were about a block away when I here a lady yell “wait!” and comes running towards up. She looks at me and says something in German which I didn’t understand and then just said “Thank you! Why?” and started to cry. I gave her a hug and started to cry too. She probably thought I was some crazy American. “I told her, no thank you!” and she hugged me for another minute then left. It seemed like such a small gesture from me, it was only a few $$, I just wanted them to know someone cared. I will always remember that moment. Making a difference in someone’s life doesn’t have to be a grand gesture. A small moment of your time showing someone that they are loved can make an impact. Plant a seed, water it and a garden will grow.

I’m going to continue to plant seeds in my children’s life, though my actions and encouraging them to make small gestures of love. I pray that they grow up with a desire to help others, to show compassion and be thankful for what they are given. Struggles are bound in come in life, but I pray they grow from their struggles and help others through what they’ve learned.
Sorry for my sappy rant.

Picture taken from http://www.grassrootsmarketingagency.com/lead-nurturing/