The Gift

1:02:16 AM CST
Feeling Quiet
Hearing Money can't buy it - Anne Lennox

The Gift


The strangest thing happened to my family and I last Sunday. Usually every Sunday Kevin and I take the girls out for breakfast at one of the local family restaurants.

Events like these usually become chaotic troop moves for our family. Depending on the mood of the girls, it can be either an ugly or a beautiful thing. Lately these days, it's been ugly. Megan, being the teen she's becoming is usually dwelling on some dramatic issue that has her emotions in rage that week, little sister Molly is often on a tangent of how everyone and everything in this world is unfair because big sister Megan gets to have and do things she can't do, and Hanna alternates between the two depending on who's offering her the most attention that weekend. Michelle lately seems to be the worst of the bunch. Every little thing seems to tip her off and she's pissed at the world around her.

All of these elements can wear on a tired mother trying to finish her schooling. Needless to say, I spend most mornings these days making love to the coffee machine and praying for the aches and pains my body groans about to subside. Sunday was no different. The change in the weather and the lack of sleep were playing hard on my migraine headache and all I wanted to do was quickly feed them and go back home to hide in a dark room.

Perhaps it was the look on my face, the appearance of the family or simply the kind gesture of a stranger that prompted this man to do what I consider was the kindest thing anyone has ever done for me. He paid for my family's breakfast.

The restaurant didn't tell me about his kind gesture until after the meal was complete. By that time the stranger had long disappeared. No one seemed to know much about him, nor why he chose to do what he did. There were no answers to allay the question of why.

At first I sat in complete shock. The breakfast tab was $50.00. Exactly who in their right mind would pay a complete stranger's expensive breakfast bill? Then I became worried. Was there some underlying evil reason this person elected to pay for my meal? Was there some malice he had in mind for me or my family? Love eventually washed the fears from my mind.

Whoever this person was, and for whatever reason prompted him to react in kindness to my family, he was simply a gift from God.

The budget has been a raw issue in the household. After loosing two clients in a matter of a month, even taking the kids out for breakfast is a luxury we will have to eliminate if things don't get better quick. The problem is that Mel doesn't cook breakfast and the kids like a hot meal on the weekends. There is an element of emotional debilitation that takes place when you realize that your children will have to do with less because of your shortcomings.

This gift, from whoever was sent our way, was a message from God.

In a world full of selfishness and hatred, it gives hope. Where there is sadness, it gives love, and where there is doubt, it gives faith.

I cried when I realized that my conceit, my selfishness and my self-pity had prevented me from seeing the beauty behind this kind gesture.