Stories of Kindness from Around the World

Last October, as I do every year, I set out to layaway a few things on my kids' Christmas lists. While in the past, the Christmas season has been a bit rough, the last couple of years, we have been blessed to be able to provide for our kids.
Well, in particular, I had a layaway at a local KMart store, and had a balance left before pulling it out about a week before Christmas. So, I proceeded to pick up my layaway. Upon reaching the counter, I handed the clerk my layaway receipts and told her I was there to pay off the balance and take the items home with me. She grabbed my receipts, and kept messing with the computer as if something was wrong. My stomach felt a little uneasy, I was expecting her to tell me my layaway had been misplaced or something of the sort.

Finally, after about ten minutes, she said, "Oh, that's why I can't find it in our system. You should have received a phone call a few days ago that your layaway was paid off by a secret Santa." I couldn't believe what I was hearing! This stuff only happens in the news, why was my family chosen to anonymously receive such a blessing?

I was excited! I teared up. Immediately I asked the cashier if there was a way I could leave something for the Secret Santa that randomly paid off my layaway and she said that the individual wanted to remain completely anonymous. Wow! It definitely touched my heart. However, I kind of felt bad, because I kept thinking that perhaps some family out there was not going to have a Christmas because they really couldn't afford to pick up their layaway.

I felt kind of guilty, but to pay it forward, I then used the money I had for the balance on my account, to purchase some toys and on my way out, I gladly dropped them off inside a huge toy donation bin. Since I had received such a nice, heart warming gesture from someone, I wanted to keep the kindness going. And it felt nice to receive and to be able to give right back.