Acts of Christmas kindness...

This year it seems like we have been overwhelmed with the acts of kindness that we have had done in our family and for our family. The acts of service given from Deke's parents on the playhouse and the family and neighbors that helped Christmas eve morning to put it all together. The little treats and gifts dropped off on our doorstep wishing us a Merry Christmas. A special secret santa gift given to us and numerous, numerous simple acts of kindness throughout the month by random strangers. I felt like this year alot of people around me had caught the spirit of Christmas whether it was a cashier at the grocery store or someone waiting in line next to me, people just seemed to be more patient, more friendly, and kinder this season. It has been refreshing. NOTE: the story below is not for kids to read....
So one night I was at WalMart finishing getting the kids gifts and went to find the last thing on my list. A wood catapult that Hunter had seen a while ago and was really excited about. It was part of a set of "build it yourself" wood projects. Hunter talked about all the cool things he could do with it and decided that he would like to put it on his list from Santa. When I went to the aisle all the catapults were gone, in fact all the wood projects were gone. All that was left was the display models sitting on top of the shelf. Bummed I headed to customer service to pick up a present my mom had shipped to store for the kids. As I was sitting there waiting to get checked out a woman that worked there came walking with the display case headed to the back. "It doesn't hurt to ask" I thought and then said "Do you know if you guys have any more of those catapults anywhere in the back?" "No" she replied and then proceeded to tell me that there weren't any at the nearest locations either since they had already called for someone and checked earlier that day. "Would they be willing to sell me the display one" I asked. The woman assured me that they don't really do that. "Bummer" I said, "I have a cute little freckle faced eight year old boy that would just love that thing." The lady stopped and smiled at me, "I remember when mine was eight, he is thirteen now it goes so fast." "Yeah it does" I agreed "He is such a good kid too" "Well thanks for checking, I had to ask" I said and went to take my turn at the counter. I had almost finished checking out when the same lady came out again from the back once again carrying the display. She walked over to me, put it in my cart and said, "There you go Merry Christmas." Still not getting it I responded, "Great! How much again for the catapult, I don't need all of them I really only need the catapult. How much do I owe you." Smiling wide she said, "I don't think you understand, these are for you to have, I know what it is like to have a little boy that really is excited about something for Christmas.... Merry Christmas." She had gone back to her manager and asked and they had decided to GIVE it all to me. Which ended up being not only the catapult but the other wood pieces on the display totalling about $50 in wood projects for Hunter. I cried in the WalMart line right there at customer service for this act of kindness. As the clerk helped me out to the truck with a couple of the larger boxes I just kept tearing up. "You know people just don't do things like this anymore" I told him. He helped me load everything into the truck and then smiled and wished me a Merry Christmas. I was warm and fuzzy the whole way home, only to walk in the door and start crying again as I relayed it all to Deke. In reality it is something pretty simple but yet it isn't. Someone caring enough about another person and stopoing for a minute to try do something for them. Someone they have never met and will probably never see again. It was touching. I am so grateful to her and the kindness she showed me, that renewed my faith in people's basic human nature to care about each other. Maybe in this crazy world we do still have people that can slow down and be aware of others. It has motivated me to be better, to pay more attention. To try to be a person that is randomly going about my day doing random acts of kindness. I am grateful for the gift given but mostly for the reminder that a little bit of kindness goes a long way.