“Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up.” – Romans 15:2 (NIV)
Lacey was a stay-at-home mom when her kids were young. But as they became school-age, she decided she wanted to work part-time to fill her hours. Her husband was blessed with a good job, so she knew she had plenty of time to search.
Then one day, Lacey was at her local mall. A crisis center had a booth, advertising their hotline. Underneath the hotline’s contact information, there was a request for volunteers in tiny letters.
The booth reminded Lacey of when she’d been a teenager in high school. Her home life was chaotic and filled with violence. When she disclosed this to her best friend, Travis, he promised always to be a listening ear.
Over the next few years, Travis regularly followed up with Lacey. He called her on the phone regularly, looked out for her at school, and helped her get a job, so she didn’t have to spend so much time at home.
“He was my guardian angel, the first person who’d ever truly cared for me,” Lacey said. “When I saw the booth, I thought about Travis and how he’d impacted my life so much. I wanted to do that for someone else, to shine hope into their life.”
God, thank You for the kind, generous people You’ve placed in my life. Help me to pay their kindness forward and shine hope into someone else’s life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
