A mother of three children was taking a Sociology class and the last project for the semester was called "Smile".
The class was asked to go out and smile at three people and document their reactions. This mother was a very friendly person and always smiled at everyone, so she thought this project would be a piece of cake.
Soon after this project was assigned to the class, this mother went with her husband and small son to McDonald's for breakfast on a crisp March morning. It was their way of sharing special playtime with their son.
They were standing in line, waiting to be served, when all of a sudden everyone around them began to back away, and even her husband starting backing away. She did not move an inch..an overwhelming feeling of panic welled up inside of her as she turned to see why everyone was moving away.
As she turned around, she smelled a horrible 'dirty body' smell, and there standing behind her were two poor homeless men.
As she looked down at the short gentleman, close to her, he was "smiling". His beautiful sky blue eyes were full of God's light as he searched for acceptance. He said, "Good day" to her as he counted the few coins he had been clutching.
The second man fumbled with his hands as he stood behind his friend. She realized the second man was mentally challenged and the blue-eyed gentleman was his salvation. The mother held her tears as she stood there with them.
The young lady at the counter asked them what they wanted. The blue-eyed gentleman said, 'Coffee is all Miss' because that was all he could afford. (If they wanted to sit in the restaurant and warm up, they had to buy something. He just wanted to be warm).
Then she really felt it - the compulsion was so great that she almost reached out and embraced the little man with the blue eyes. That is also when she noticed all eyes in the restaurant were set on her, judging every action she took.
She smiled and asked the young lady behind the counter to give her two more breaksfast meals on a separate tray. She then walked around the corner to the table that the men had chosen as a resting spot. She put the tray on the table and laid her hands on the blue-eyed gentleman's cold hand.
He looked up at her, with tears in his eyes, and said, "Thank you". She leaned over, began to pat his hand and said, "I did not do this for you. God is here working through me to give you hope".
She started to cry as she walked away to join her husband and son. When she sat down, her husband smiled at her and said, "That is why God gave you to me, honey, to give me hope". They held hands for a moment and at that time, they knew that only because of the Grace that they had been given were they able to give.
That day showed her the pure Light of God's sweet love.
She returned to college, on the last evening of class, with this story in hand. She turned in "her project" and the instructor read it. Then the instructor looked up at her and asked, "Can I share this"? The mother nodded as she got the attention of the class.
She began to read and this is when the mother knew that we as human beings and being a part of God share this need to heal people and to be healed. In her own way, she had touched the people at McDonalds', and every soul that shared the classroon on the last night she spent as a college student. And she graduated with one of the biggest lessons she would ever learn:
UNCONDITIONAL ACCEPTANCE.
We are to love people and use things....not love things and use people.
