The Summer of my eleventh year was a wonderful time of joy and innocence. My
days were spent riding my bike, walking in the bright green woods around my
home, swimming in the crystal clear river that ran by my house, playing in
fields full of wild flowers, and looking up at the clouds. I wished those lazy,
peaceful days would last forever. But then it all changed.
It happened in the middle of the night when I heard my grandmother scream. A
fire had started in her room and was rapidly spreading through our house. We all
ran outside with only the clothes on our backs. I watched in shock as fire
devoured our home. There was nothing left.
That night I went from a happy and carefree child to a homeless and scared one.
The following days were a blur. I didn’t know what the future would hold. All I
could feel was fear.
Thankfully, good friends took us into their home, fed, and clothed us. One night
around their dinner table my Mom thanked them for all they were doing for us.
Smiling, her friend said, "Honey, it was the least we could do." Later they
began to share old stories and laugh. It was then that I smiled for the first
time in days and felt the fear finally fading from my heart.
Looking back on that time thirty five years ago, I now see that it wasn’t the
least they could do. The least would have been nothing at all. Instead they
opened their home and their hearts to us. They shared their food and their
kindness. They helped us to start over when we had lost everything. They helped
a scared boy to feel safe, loved, and happy again.
The next time you are given an opportunity to help another then don’t just do
the least you can do. Do the most you can do instead. Give from your heart.
Share from your soul. Live a life that makes Heaven smile. God put us here to
love each other, to feed each other, to help each other, and to make this world
a better place for everyone. That is the most we can do.
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