Beyond Measure

One of my favorite things to see during the perturbing pandemic was the generosity of people. I have seen that level of generosity come out during every Christmas season. Sometimes I randomly see it at other times too.

At the adjacent cash register of a fast-food chain, a man announced to the cashier that he would pay forward $20 on upcoming orders. Unfortunately, mine had already been totaled, and the clerk had that look that said, I don’t even want to figure out how to go back and adjust this. I watched that free meal pass on to another person. I won’t complain because I have had numerous people feed me on numerous occasions since that time.

During college, I was standing near a friend at the business office when she was told that someone paid off the tuition for the rest of her semester. She was thrilled, and I was excited too. I may have been slightly jealous though because nothing like that ever happened to me. I worked hard to earn money for school, but I never could earn enough. I applied for over 100 scholarships during all my years of schooling, but I have never been awarded a single scholarship. Since then, I have had anonymous monetary gifts. I have even had someone forgive a debt that I owed so that I could start the next phase of my life without that burden of debt over my head. I was extremely grateful for that gift. There were a great number of random acts of kindness done to me by caring friends as well as some done by strangers that have lifted my spirits, made my day, or helped me along my way.

One of the most memorable acts of kindness was a coordinated effort of several friends. They knew that I quit my job to return to school and that I was struggling as the timing and finances just were not falling into place. While I may have noticed some strange things, I could not have anticipated what they would do.

Being such good friends as they are, among the lot of them, they knew my schedule and where I left my spare house key. During a time they knew I would be occupied in a church ministry in which most of them were not involved, they coordinated an effort to break into my home and leave a surprise. I do not know who had what part. I am not even certain as to who all was involved, though I have a pretty good idea. I returned home to a welcome surprise on my kitchen counter.

I was amazed and overwhelmed at the thoughtfulness, creativity, sacrifice, and effort. They wrote a very sweet note to accompany the edible gifts. Since the gift was supposedly anonymous, I anonymously showed my gratitude on social media. The picture was my most commented on photo of that year. I am fairly certain that I publicly expressed my gratitude before I opened the refrigerator. Otherwise, I might have included pictures of what I found in the refrigerator and freezer.

At that point, I was completely overwhelmed with thanks. Yet, that was not the end of it. Later, I also found food in some of the cabinets. That food lasted me quite a long time. The greatest blessing of that day was not only having that physical need met and realizing how amazing my friends are. Realizing that I could enter this next phase of my life and know that my friends would not let me be hungry or homeless is a priceless assurance and comfort.

Many people do not have a strong support system. As much as it is amazing to be on the receiving end of people’s effort to pay it forward, having supportive people is an incomparable kindness.