Stories of Kindness from Around the World

I sent this out in an email a few days ago and thought it would be nice to spread the blessings on this site as well because just one small shift in our thinking each day can make a worldly difference in our daily lives and the lives of others...   

Heavenly Father, help us to remember that the rude lady who cut us off in traffic today is a single mother who just worked nine hours and is rushing home to cook dinner, do the laundry, help her children with homework, and spend a few precious moments with them before she tucks them in at night.

Help us to remember that the pierced, tattooed, disinterested young man who can't make change correctly is a worried 19-year- old college student, balancing his apprehension over final exams with his fear of not getting his student loans for next semester.

Remind us, that the scary -looking bum, begging for money in the same spot every day may be a slave to an addiction that is causing him pain that we never experience, not even in our worst nightmares.

Please help us to remember that the old couple walking annoyingly slow through the store aisles and blocking our shopping progress is savoring this moment, knowing that, based on the biopsy report the elderly woman received last week, this time is the time to remember because it may be the last year that the two may go shopping together, hand in hand.

Heavenly Father, remind us each day that, of all the gifts you give us, the greatest one of them all is love.  It is not enough to share that love with those we hold dear.  Let us open our hearts not just to those who are close to us, but to those who are far as well.  Let us be slow to judge and quick to forgive, through patience, empathy and love for all human beings.