Lend a Helping Hand

Not everything on facebook and social media is negative. Each Friday, we share something we’ve found that’s encouraging, edifying, or enlightening.

The Heartland page “is dedicated to providing daily positive, inspirational, motivational, kindness stories.”

Here’s one about a wife whose attitude toward her husband quickly moved from annoyance, to appreciation, to love.

My husband has a tendency to move slower on the weekends, and knowing we had a lot of errands to get done, I went into the store looking for him, annoyed.

I found him, reading ingredients to an elderly man and helping him calculate ratios for what he needed, because he couldn’t do it himself anymore. And listening to him tell stories of his acres of land nearby.

I forgot about errands, our time crunch, our tasks…and thought man, if we could all just take a little time to help each other with just the littlest things, how good we would all feel. And remembered that I snagged a good one ❤

No doubt this story hits a nerve that has touched of us at times. It might involvement a child, a parent, a friend, neighbor, or brother in Christ.

It’s easy to get annoyed, irritated, and aggravated at others. Yet, when we dig a little deeper, we see someone who is good, kind, and seeking to serve the needs of others.

This story reminds of two great Bible principles–The Golden Rule. And The Great Commandment. Treat others the way you want to be treated. And love your neighbor as yourself (Matt. 7:12, 22:39).

It reminds us of Jesus’ parable of The Good Samaritan. Taking time to interrupt our journey to help someone in need (Lk. 10:25-37). Being a good neighbor to someone who is a total stranger.

It reminds us of Paul’s command “to serve one another in love” (Gal. 5:13)/

It reminds us of the great love chapter, 1 Corinthians 13, that says love is kind, patient, polite, and not resentful or irritable.

Finally, this story is summed up by these three quotes from my favorite author anonymous.

“When others are struggling, give them a hand to guide them forward.”

“A helping hand can be the light in a world full of darkness.”

“Your life is not measured by what you have done, but by what you’ve done for others.”

–Ken Weliever, The Preacherman