I MISSED AN OPPORTUNITY RECENTLY—an opportunity to engage in a random act of kindness. The only thing I can take from this negative experience is a lesson—don’t let it happen again! Seize the moment. Act on impulse. It might well be an impulse from above! Let me share the scenario with you.

Last week I was in the checkout line at Target. The young lady in front of me was in the act of paying for her purchases. She swiped her card and was told that it was not accepted for whatever reason. Now, that was quite embarrassing, I’m sure. She was fumbling around in her pocket book for some cash and apparently she didn’t have quite enough, so she told the clerk that she only wanted to buy half of what she had. I could see that the items she was about to leave behind probably didn’t add up to more than a couple of dollars. I thought about just paying for them, but I did not act on the impulse.

Reflecting on that moment, I have come to the conclusion that I missed the opportunity to bless someone with a random act of kindness. She had a need. I had the means to supply it, but chose not to. Why am I exposing my ineptness? Failure can be a great teacher and motivator. Should a similar opportunity arise, you can be sure that I will act—even if I know it may be rejected or misunderstood. After all, we DO have to live with ourselves. Right?

It kind of reminded me of a young man I read about who was busy at his job of taking out groceries for the local supermarket. He had been in and out of the store on his helpful errands a number of times that morning. Something drew his attention to a woman in the parking lot who was struggling with her groceries. Her cart was abundantly filled, as were her arms. Like many people, she put one of her packages on the roof of the car while she hurried for her keys and opened the door. Then she began to load her packages from the cart to her car. But as she got in and started to drive away, the young man saw that she had forgotten to retrieve the package on the roof. He ran after the car and just as she made a turn to exit the parking lot, the package rolled off into his waiting arms. It was a baby!

Do you suppose she was grateful for his act of kindness? I imagine so. Be on the lookout for ways to bless others. You just might save a life in doing so!