"Never Supress a Generous Thought"

I remember hearing this advice at one of my favorite devotionals at BYU, given by sister Bonnie D. Parkin. It's hard advice to follow. I often think about doing something nice and then decide not to. Sometimes our generous thoughts seem impractical, but I've often found myself wishing I had followed through.

Yesterday was a special day when I decided NOT to supress a small generous thought and recieved a great blessing. I was going for a run through our neighborhood and passed an old man who looked like he was getting out of his van. We waved hello and I kept on running. I realized though, that he still hadn't gotten out of his car and wondered if he needed help. There was a handicapped sign in his car and he looked pretty frail. I ran past one more house, listing all the reasons why I shouldn't turn around, then decided it couldn't hurt to offer and went back to the van.

I asked if I could give him a hand. He said "No, but I can give you one," and started clapping. Very clever. He told me he was just waiting for his daughter to come pick him up. We struck up a conversation and I stayed there with him for about 10 minutes. He was very chatty but not overbearing; I could have left but didn't want to. I found out he is going to North Carolina this week to hopefully get a lung transplant. He said, "God is good. He knows what we need and He watches out for us." We talked about San Angelo and where I was from. He asked if Bret and I had any children and when I said, "Not yet," he told me to, "Get on it!" He showed me a picture of his 5 grown daughters and told me a little about each of them. Two are married to pastors and one is a minister of children's education. I could tell they were a very religious family. He invited me to stop by their house anytime, and you know what... I think I will.

I am so grateful that yesterday I decided not to supress a generous thought and had the opportunity to meet Mr. Williams. Our little chat made my day and helped me remember that "God is good" and He loves me very much.