How God Works

 

Tonight my daughter, Kyrie, and a group of her friends went for wings night at Buffalo Wild Wings.  

There were ten of them and they ordered 45 wings at the B1G1 special rate as well as a few other things.

They waited for almost thirty minutes before their waitress came back and said she hadn't been able to read all her handwriting and asked to clarify. 

Another 30 minutes went by and finally a different server brought their food out but with more than 200 wings!! They were told it would be worked out and started eating. 

They finished eating but were presented a bill for almost $300 - nearly double what they had ordered.

Some of her friends said they shouldn't tip the waitress but Kyrie said it was obvious she was young and new and didn't feel it had been intentional.  So she told the others to leave the cash or venmo her the amount they had actually ordered and she would take care of it.

Then she asked to talk to the manager.  The manager explained it had not only been the girl's first day but her very first order and thanked her for her patience and kindness.  

She dropped the bill to $105 and Kyrie left the rest of the cash as a $50 tip for the waitress on her first night.

She said "You never know what other people are going through and how your kindness can make a difference."

She turned those couple of hours of frustration into purposeful giving.  She followed a prompting and offered grace.  

I reassured her that if she watched, she would see that blessing paid forward in someway in the coming days.  

Twenty minutes later she called back.  

"That was fast! I just stopped at CVS to pick up my medicine on the way home.  Last month it was $48.  Tonight the cashier said she would try some different discounts  to try and get it lower.  It was $12.40."

It made me smile to hear the excitement in her voice.

"See, that's how life works." I told her.

"I would say that's how God works," she corrected me. 

She is so right.  

We are called to do this together.  

Sometimes that means sharing the grace.  

Sometimes that means sharing the joys.

Sometimes that means sharing the pain. 

But that's how God works.  And not only don't we know how much that kindness means to someone else, we also often don't know how much it means to our own spirits and character.

Betty Jo Jepsen counseled, "President Ezra Taft Benson tells us that a person who is kind is sympathetic and gentle with others, is considerate of others’ feelings, is courteous in his or her behavior, and has a helpful nature. He goes on to say, “Kindness pardons others’ weaknesses and faults. Kindness is extended to all—to the aged and the young, to animals, to those low of station as well as the high.”

Kindness.  It's how Jesus lived.  And so can we.