Repercussions From An Ancient Kindness

Saturday Ginny decided to refurbish her wardrobe at a thrift store across the river on the far side of the city, an area of town we rarely drive to.

She has a degree in finance and a frugal turn of mind; so she saves money buying at this store where the used clothing is cheap and the store profits go to helping children with life-threatening illnesses.

Jacksonville covers 844 square miles and bleeds over into surrounding counties, so there are some areas which we rarely even see. In fact, we rarely even cross the St. John’s River which bisects the city.

But Saturday we ventured far afield into the wilds of Southside.

She bought cloth things…. For hours!

Since we were on that side of town, we drove to a restaurant in Arlington for a late lunch.

There we met a lady who has been a waitress for many, many years. We did not recognize her, but she recognized us from having served us at another restaurant in the Northside many, many years ago.

You know, sometimes I get discouraged at trying to live like a Christian. Sometimes it seems a thankless task.

You do good. You do your best. You try to treat other people with respect and kindness; you try to spread the good news about Christ and His resurrection … and nothing happens.

I see no results.

It all seems so futile.

Sometimes I feel as though I’m wasting my time. In fact, I often feel as though I’m pissing against the wind…

The …er, lets say mature… waitress greeted us effusively. She remembered us from that other restaurant where she worked long ago…And, she remembered something Ginny did, something so tiny we’d both forgotten.

You see, when that waitress was younger, she could not afford a babysitter for her little boy. She had to bring the kid into work with her and park him at a corner table and make him sit for the eight to ten hours a day she served tables.

Ginny noticed that this little boy was bored out of his skull! He had absolutely nothing to do while his mama worked.

The next time we ate at that restaurant, Ginny carried a box of children’s books and gave them to the kid. to read while his mother served tables. We thought little of it. No big deal. Such a little thing… Just a handful of books our own children had outgrown.

We’d forgotten all about it.

Saturday, the lady, still waiting tables but at a different place, reminded us about those books. She thanked us again. She told us that her little boy is now a grown man. He and his wife live up in Tennessee. They have four children.

He reads to them.

He reads to them all the time.

His mama says he does that because of Ginny’s long ago kindness…

After she left our table, Ginny and I got to talking, trying to figure out how long ago that had happened… She said it must have been 15 years ago; I said it may have been 20 years ago. We just couldn’t pinpoint the time…

“What does it matter,” I said, “Fifteen, twenty years, what’s the difference”?

My smart-ass accountant wife said, “Five years”.