I was checking out at Target recently. The store was crowded with holiday shoppers. I was third in line at the register. The older man at the front of the line appeared to be struggling financially, along with other ways. He only had a couple of items and he presented a gift card to pay for them.
The cashier told him that he was $1.99 short. It was obvious that he didn’t have any more money. The cashier didn’t know what to do. She was polite, but he didn’t have the money to pay.
Then the woman in front of me reached into her purse and pulled out two dollars and handed it to the cashier. The man nodded a thank you and the check out was completed.
A few minutes later, I whispered to her, “Thank you for doing that. That was a good thing to do.” Her response? She smiled and wiped tears from her eyes. I had tears in my eyes also.
In the grand scheme of things, it really wasn’t a big deal or a lot of money. But I thanked God as I walked to my car. To me, it was a little picture of grace, of someone stepping up and helping out, who didn’t really have to. Of someone whose tears reflected what was in her heart.
Maybe sometime during this Christmas season we can reach out to someone who can’t pay us back. Maybe we can reflect a little bit of God’s grace to someone else. After all, isn’t that a part of what Christmas is all about? Kindness. Mercy. The grace of God.