Over the weekend I had a chance to hang out with my niece. I decided to take her to dinner and to play some games at Dave and Busters. We had so much fun! At dinner she got a really cool hypercolor straw that changed colors based on temperature. Which she thought was the coolest. Then I splurged and got the big card with a lot of coins on it, so we could play for a while together.
We were having a blast, until we came upon the big claw machine. She tried and tried to get a stuffed animal as big as her, but to no avail. So we took a break and played other games for a while. Then we went back to the claw machine. There was a line, and people were taking turns. Everything was going great, until my nieces turn. She dislodged the stuffy she wanted, and it would have only taken one more try and that stuffy would have been hers, but the next little girl was waiting. I know that my niece was going to be heartbroken, but everyone was taking turns so nicely. And, I could tell by looking at this little girl that she probably didn’t have these kinds of opportunities that often.
My niece is quite fortunate to be an only child of very loving and fun parents, not to mention some cool aunts and uncles. She has had so many fun experiences and has a room full of stuffies at home. She handled it like a champ even though I could tell how disappointed she was to hand the controls over to this little girl, she did it graciously but with a look of disappointment I knew that we would have to talk about.
That little girl won the prize and got that big stuffy, and showed no kindness to my niece even though it was she who set up that little miracle for her and handed over the controls. It broke my heart to watch that interaction, but it was then that I realized, sometimes you are the miracle for another person. You set someone up for a win, and there is a prize in that too.
In fact we walked over to the small crane machines close by and she won a small stuffed dog that she promptly named golden for it’s color. I paid for a little girl that had no money to play the claw next to us, and the boy on the other side won 3 stuffies at once and handed one to my niece and the little girl I had just paid for. He was so sweet, and my heart was happy.
My niece would end up coming home with a bag full of fun prizes including a stuffed sloth that was 1/2 her size, and some other fun things. She, by no means left empty handed. We had a great night, and we contributed to making that little girls experience one that she won’t forget for a while.
It’s important to look at the bigger picture. Which is sometimes hard to do in the moment, but if we can, we can affect others around us, and at the same time feed our soul by spreading love. Plus, when we do God’s work, we will be rewarded. Generosity and kindness will find you, if that is what you are putting out. So, I encourage you to be kind and generous, and teach your children to do the same. Be that miracle for someone else, no matter how small.
