Aesop said, “No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.”

My dad used to read his fables to us every night for bedtime stories. The above quote pertains to, “The Lion and the Mouse.” In a nutshell, the lion decides to let the mouse live instead of eating it. Soon after, the lion is trapped in a hunter’s woven net. The tiny mouse saves the “king of the jungle” by gnawing through the ropes.

This ancient fable is about lives being saved by kindness, but I believe any act of kindness, even a thoughtful word, a smile, or holding the door for someone, will come back and directly affect your life. This happened to me not long ago at the grocery store.

After we placed our items onto the counter, the cashier said, “Would you like to buy some cookies?” She smiled. Probably because my eyebrows lifted. I rarely buy baked goods, because homemade not only taste better, they’re better for us.

I sighed. Apparently, the bakery was having a sale. I returned her beautiful smile and said, “I will buy some . . . for you. Pick out your favorite kind and I’ll buy them.”

Her eyes widened. “Really? For me,” she asked.

“I chuckled and said, “Yes.”

She turned and carefully searched through the plastic containers. For just a moment, I was irritated. I wondered what she was doing. She stepped back up to the counter and placed a package of six large cookies in front of me. “This is my favorite,” she said.

I glanced at them and nodded my head. It was the end of a long day for me and I was exhausted, hungry, and eager to be on my way. We talked, but I don’t remember what was said.

I paid her and then I watched my husband sacking the groceries. Since his retirement, he has become an expert at bagging our groceries. He is not shy about sharing that knowledge with any sacker unlucky enough to put our bananas in the bottom of the bag, and then place items on top of them. I am not happy when things get mashed.  

He was placing the groceries into the back of the car when he said, “I didn’t know you bought cookies.”

“What? She was supposed to keep them!” I said, with dismay. He took them out of the grocery bag, held them up, and smiled at me.

They were oatmeal and raisin, which is my all-time favorite. I considered going back to her but that thought was depressing. I was just too tired to walk back inside. I took them up front with us, and we ate one on the way home. They were about four inches across and surprisingly delicious.

The Girl Scouts are selling cookies this time of the year. I stopped eating them years ago, but those little girls are so precious. When I open my purse, I ask them to give me a box of their favorite kind. I pay for it and then I hand it back as a gift. It always surprises them, and their mothers.

That was on my tired mind at HEB. I literally meant for her, but I failed to make that plain. It dawned on me why she was so amazed when I said, “For you.” Then again, it was for her. I can remember working as a cashier. I was nineteen. I still recall my aching feet, and rude people. That job didn’t last a year. I try to be kind to people working with the public, but sometimes I detect an attitude, so I just keep my mouth shut.

Folks can be so disagreeable and inconsiderate. A smile can actually set them off. It’s like their goal is to ruin the day of anyone unfortunate enough to cross their path. I see them on social media. The haters. Their cruelty is deliberate. When they hurt one of God’s children, I know He reacts. Sadly, they are probably the most miserable of humanity. I know God deals fairly with them.

Those cashiers earn points and prizes on the products my HEB Grocery asks them to sell. I know this, because one time I bought the last two bags of candy the cashier was selling and she squealed. She had earned a watch. Observing her joy made my day.

My kindness came back to me within minutes of buying those cookies. It often does. We were hungry, but we wanted to eat at home. The cookie we ate gave us enough energy to unload the groceries, put them away, lock up the chickens, and get supper onto the table.

The meal was two steaks, with a large zucchini squash halved and put in the oven for thirty minutes. I had mashed potatoes left over from the day before, so I put them in the oven the last ten minutes. Fast, healthy, organic food all in one glass pan for easy cleanup. The effort is truly worth it for your health.

We stopped at The Cracker Barrel the other day. We hadn’t been there in a few years, and we were shocked by the quality of the food. We both ordered the meatloaf lunch. My husband said the meat wasn’t real. It tasted like soybean meat to me. I ordered green beans and carrots for my sides and they were good. My husband complained that his mashed potatoes were the instant kind. The Southern sweet tea was bitter.

When I told my daughter about our experience, she wondered if the chicken and dumplings were still good. I’m so glad that we didn’t order that meal. Campell’s soup came to mind and my thoughts were not good. We used to love that place, but we won’t eat there again. Eating out has certainly changed since my husband and I were young.

I’m getting sidetracked. Kindness is very important to God. It’s a reflection of His love. We are called to be a light for Him, and to let His character replace our own. Matthew 5:16, “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” We are to yield to the Holy Spirit.

I wish I could say that I always yield to His promptings, but I have a temper that causes me grief. My mind is a battlefield. The war is between my evil, fleshly desires and the good, godly desires of the Holy Spirit. I want to live a God-pleasing life, but my desire to have my own way is strong. I praise Him for putting up with me all these years.

Thankfully, that day I yielded. I didn’t say anything when she turned away to look for her favorite cookies, but I was annoyed. It was probably a full minute that she searched. The Lord quickly put it into my weary, impatient mind that she was doing what I had asked her to do. That must have been the only oatmeal-raisin cookies in the bunch. Her beautiful smile let me know how pleased she was to have found them.

That last sentence alarms me. What harm I would have caused if I had opened my mouth, and not yielded to Him. It was a small thing, but so much of life is just trusting God to guide us through it. Be still. Let God control you. My tongue has caused me much grief, because words cannot be erased from the heart that you have broken.

My blog is about the kindness I showed to someone I may never see again, and how that kindness returned to me. I want you to consider how important it is to control your tongue. Proverbs 12:25 “Heaviness in the heart of man makes it stoop: but a good word makes it glad.” Kind words cheer the heart. People in this world need cheering up.

A wise person uses his words for constructive purposes. He knows the harm of gossip and how God hates it, so he guards his tongue and his heart. A righteous person is kind. He considers the feelings of all, regardless of their status. He also considers Scripture like Proverbs 11:17, “The merciful man does good to his own soul: but he that is cruel troubles his own flesh.”

Dear Readers, we reap what we sow. I encourage you to be kind to those you meet, but especially to your family, your friends, your pets, and the wildlife around you.  They’re struggling in a world filled with plastic and humans.