Recently, we were visiting family in New York. The adults were going out to dinner and my in-laws had arranged a babysitter for my daughter. Any mother can attest to the extreme uncertainty in leaving their child with a stranger.
Two college girls arrived right on time. They were pleasant, warm and friendly from the get-go. My mind was quickly put to rest after meeting them.
However, it wasn’t until later in the evening that I would be so moved by these two girls.
Inquiring to my father-in-law, about the two, I learned life hadn’t been easy for them. One of their mothers had been in jail for credit card fraud. She was always pregnant, always moving, on welfare, had many boyfriends and on top of that, their house burned down.
With a childhood like this, most kids don’t stand a chance.
These two girls though, chose to go against everything they knew, and change the tide of their future.
They are both putting themselves through college. One to be a lawyer and the other to be a teacher.
Again, this would have been impressive enough, but the part that caught me completely off guard was when we went to pay them. We had planned on giving them extra to help a little with college, but they wouldn’t take ANY money.
They kept giving it back to us. Finally, we insisted and gave them the money and sent them on their way.
Only to get a text later that evening, saying the money was under the doorstep!
I was blown away.
Here were two young girls, with zero positive influence at home, who NEED the money, yet they choose differently.
We were looking to bless them, and in turn they blessed us.
And it wasn’t the money that blessed us, it was the choice they made not to take the money.
It goes against every traditional way of thinking. They said it was truly their pleasure to watch my child.
I was humbled by these two girls’ actions. Their actions challenged me on some of my own thoughts and decisions.
I have thought about the girls every day since. They reminded me of many crucial life lessons:
-it is better to give than to receive
-give generously and unexpectedly
-always be looking for opportunities to bless others
-don’t allow your circumstances to dictate your actions
-choose your future in spite of your past
-your choices impact others
Who can you bless today?
I love this! I bet your daughter was blessed tremendously by being around them as well!
Yes, she was tremendously blessed! She was so happy when we returned home! I think with the media it’s so easy to see the bad things going on in our world, but in situations like these it helps to reaffirm my faith in humanity.
Someone obviously had uncommon influence on these two young women-looks like they are living their life to serve. thanks for sharing!
Absolutely! It just goes to show you that you may never know all that someone is going through, but you can have a powerful impact on their life!