A friend told me this story of what happened to her.

Today while eating alone, I was struck by the kindness and thoughtfulness of a young boy about 12 years old. While eating with his parents, he turned around and asked me if I was eating alone. When I replied that I was, he simply said, "would you like to join us?" I was almost done, and they had just arrived. I asked him his name, and thanked him for his kindness, and told him that I was finishing up. We were not of the same racial background, yet, it made no difference to him .In a simple gesture of kindness, he reached out to me. It lifted my spirits, and I felt God reminding me that I am never alone. In response I wanted Justin to know what a special gift he had given.Upon leaving, I asked for the ticket, paid for his family, and had the ticket sent back to the table thanking Justin. I am sure the Holy Spirit was prompting me to do this, come to think of it, I don't think I have ever done anything like this. I left there feeling like I had received a wonderful gift, and in fact I had. The kindness of a stranger. Reach out to someone today, and have a wonderful weekend!

Oh, Darlene, what a wonderful experience your friend had!! I eat alone in restaurants sometimes when I have no one to go with me, and I know how touched I would be if someone was thoughtful enough to ask me to join them....especially a child.

What is so sad that some of the children growing up in this generation are self-absorbed with a sense of entitlement that I've never seen before..at least not when I was growing up. What struck me was the thoughtfulness of this 12-year-old boy. Very touching to see that.

Thank you for sharing this, Darlene!! It was heart-warming.

That was very heartwarming - thanks for sharing it!

I saw an interesting thing one time at Olive Garden. My husband and I were having dinner, and by us sat an older couple. Two women close to the older couple asked the server for their check and paid for the older couple's dinner, then the two women left.

The older couple were very surprised that someone had done that for them, and looked to thank the women but they were gone. Then the older couple was getting ready to leave and the husband asked his wife to leave the server a generous tip. The wife said NO, they didn't pay a bill, so why should they leave a tip? The husband tried to reason with her telling her their dinner was free and the least they could do was show generosity to the server, but the wife wouldn't budge. The old man actually said "I'm pleading with you - please let us leave a nice tip", and the wife sternly said NO!

My husband and I left at that time, so I don't know how it ended up, but God was speaking to my heart the whole time to observe the difference in those people - the man with the tender heart, and the woman with the hard heart.

It's the heart that the Lord looks at. I found it interesting, and sad...

Poor man being married to a hard-hearted woman. Can you imagine how many times she broke his heart with her unyielding selfish personality? Kind of makes you wonder what he saw in her in the first place, huh? Oh well. Who am I to judge? Maybe she was having a bad day or something.

Like you said, God looks at the heart.

Darlene, that was a very touching story..

Thanks sis..



Diane, a few years back (4-5) the wife and I were eating at Ryan's resturant here in my area..

There was a man and woman, guess his wife, eating at table in front of me..

They finished their meal first...

The man placed his tip on the table and got up and left, as well as the woman, but she tarried a little..

The woman reached down, got the money, and put it in her purse...

What is that saying about a person like this. I am not the judge, but the thought of what Jesus said about loving money more than God went thru my mind..


Joseph

Yep, I know what you mean, Joseph. Years ago, I went to dinner with my friend and her mother out to dinner. When the check came and it was almost time to go, I left a generous tip on the table, then excused myself to go to the restroom. When I got back to the table, most of the tip that I left was gone, expect for a couple of bucks. I found out later on that my friend's mother had a habit of stuffing the waitor's tip in her purse because she didn't think they deserved a big tip.

I wish I would had known that beforehand. I would have gone to the restroom AFTER she got in the car!!

Waitresses and waiters only make about $2.00 an hour. Their income is dependent on the tips that people leave. Also, when you go to a buffet like Golden Corral or cafeteria the ones checking the table also make about $2.00 per hour so they depend on tips also. It is a hard job and very demanding. When I see someone who is mean to them and then leaves little to no tip, it really steams me.

I remember Francis Schaffer once saying that the way we treat the most vulnerable and helpless among us is not a measure of their humanity, but of ours. . What comes out of our mouth shows what is in the heart. What comes out of our wallets shows what is in our hearts too.