Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, 
when it is in your power to do it. - Proverbs 3:27


Growing up I witnessed my dad help out a stranger on more occassions than I could
number. Sometimes it was annoying to suddenly stop what we were doing, where we were
driving, at those times. I never questioned why he would do, probably because I knew
that as inconvenient as it might sometimes be, it was the right thing to do. All
these years later, I constantly find myself doing the same thing as my dad did. Most
of the time its just little things that no one notices and that go without mention.
Helping an elderly lady down the steps or with her groceries. Pushing a stalled car
off the freeway on-ramp while hundreds of other cars just drive around it. Helping a
new neighbor carry something heavy from the moving van.

It is nice when on these occassions the other person is grateful, and irksome when
they are not. But I realized something a long time ago that was probably the secret
that my dad knew. Helping others brings with it, its own reward, a peace of mind and
satisfaction that more than compensates for a moment's inconvenience or effort. And
something more, the universe has a way or repaying these things eventually and
that's not bad either.


Lord, thank you for the opportunities you give me help others.