The Ride HomeSo I am back in West Virginia for break, and it feels great. I have missed being home for awhile now, and I definitely need this. Ryan kindly gave me a ride home yesterday. My day was hectic with a test and classes till 4. So it felt even better when we rolled out of campus at 4:45. We got a chance to talk about some sweet things, like our views on drinking and our lives and what God has been laying on our hearts. Which also made for a short drive. The biggest thing though was when we stopped at Cabelas for a bathroom break. Ryan had never been there so I thought we could kill two birds with one stone. As we walked in, we said "hi" to the Salvation Army bell ringer who was braving the cold. After Ryan asked him how he was doing that night he replied, "uh, it's pretty cold." As he said this he was blowing into his gloves, which might not have been doing all that well. I got the idea that I should buy him a cup of coffee or something, to help fight off the chills as he greets people. I told the idea to Ryan and he agreed it would be a nice thing to do. We decided hot chocolate would be a safe choice, since not everyone drinks coffee, and if he did, we didn't know how he liked it. So after we looked around at all the mounts, and accomplished our main goal of stopping there, we went upstairs to the restaurant and Ryan kindly bought the hot chocolate while I filled it up. I was really excited to give it to him. But I was afraid he wouldn't accept it. Being we were strangers, and acts of kindness like this are somewhat rare these days. But when I presented it to him, he was very appreciative, and very open to receiving a gift like that on such a cold night. It made me so thankful to be presented with such an opportunity to serve, even in the littlest form. I think even little acts like these can fill us with the Spirit, and make us strive to be more servant-like everyday. I didn't feel like there was a need to say "God Bless" or any kind of hint that we were Christians. We just heard his need, gave him the hot chocolate, and were on our way. It was joy enough to serve him. I dunno, I just wanted to share with you guys this little experience. Maybe it'll inspire you to go out of your way, even for something small. I know he appreciated it, and it probably brightened his night. If thats all it did. Then thats awesome. It didn't have to have some profound impact like...it made his night great, and he was so kind to everyone after that, that they gave thousands of dollars because of his smile...yeah, it would be nice. But that shouldn't be our reason to serve. It should be just to help someone out. Knowing, it could not mean a thing, you may never get recognition, and it might not even be appreciated. It kind of just rejuvenated my servants heart, and how much I love helping people. I hope maybe it inspire you as well. If not...oh well. It still made a salvation army bell ringer a little warmer. | 
