random acts of kindness

Source: tumblr.com via Nicole on Pinterest

it was a very busy day in the office, when the phone rang. quite honestly, sometimes if the phone rings when i’m overwhelmed I’ll let it go to voicemail and call them back. i ended up answering the phone and it was a social worker. she needed my help finding a shelter for a homeless family, who had a child with autism. the homeless shelters they had been living at kicked them out, because the child was aggressive and screaming (a lot of children with autism have higher instances of aggression when they are scared or out of routine). my heart dropped and everything that was important, no longer became important at this time. i started doing research on homeless shelters in the area and had my assistant perform some searches as well. between the two of us, we must have called at least 60 shelters and they were either full or would not accept the entire family. after many frustrating and heartbreaking calls i decided to call the family and let them know that i had no options for them and that they would be sleeping in their car. the mom answered the phone with so much hope in her voice and there was no way i was going to be able to deliver her the bad news. i let her know that we would continue to look for housing options, but in the mean time i was going to run to the grocery store and buy them some food. i ended up browsing and shopping in the grocery store for a lot longer than i had planned and certainly brought back a lot more groceries than I had planned. I met the family and dropped off the groceries. they were so appreciative and the look on the little boys face is forever engrained in my mind. later on, i brought him some books and gave the family some cash. my assistant ended up finding a place for them to stay at, which was a vacant hotel rented out my the salvation army. being able to tell the family something as simple as “you have a place to stay tonight” was definitely one of the most eye opening experiences i have ever had.  i went home that night and appreciated everything a little bit more. i made sure to count my blessings and thank the good lord for all that he has provided for my family and i.