Pay it Forward

We had an interesting and special thing happen to us on Saturday. I've been trying really hard to make healthy homemade dinners for the past 2-3 weeks. Because of that we haven't gone out to eat for a while. When we do go out to eat we generally go to IHOP because breakfast food is my favorite and we found something that the kids will actually eat there, plus we generally only spend $20. However, on Saturday we went to Applebee's instead. We got there about 4:30-5 and the waiter put in the kid's order first while Nathan and I were still deciding what we wanted. This made our whole experience better. Hannah was also unusually good and was just happy to sit with her daddy. Generally, I have to fed Hannah during dinner, this was a nice break for me. We had a wonderful meal together while spending most of the time talking about how we can afford health insurance. We even ordered 3 dessert shooters and when the waiter came to check on us we fully expected to tab.


This is when our dining experience changed. He informed us that someone else had already paid for our meal and that we can just go when we are ready. Nathan was extremely perplexed by this and I turned to the waiter and said "Really?" thinking maybe he was just joking. He said it was already taken care of and left us to our own thoughts. The last few minutes we were there, we were pretty silent. I started to look around to see who was interested in us. We were ready to go but Nathan stayed behind to talk to the waiter about a tip. We only had a $20 bill and had no way to leave a tip. The waiter said the guy already left one so there's no need.

Nathan's reaction was more confused than any other emotion. What would compel someone to do that? So we started analysing the situation in the car. And we came up with a few answers.

The person who did it could have known us. However, we would have seen the person and there are very few people we know that are well established. So most likely it was a stranger.

So why would a strange who knows nothing about us but the fact we have 3 young children?

A: He thought our kids were the cutest little things in the world.

B: He has grandkids that he misses and we remind him of them.

C: Or he just wanted to do something nice and give service.

Whatever this person's motivation was, the important matter is us. Because of this, I've wanted to serve others. I try to be more aware of those around us. I will remember his kindness for a long time.

Feeding the 5,000 has been going on in our town to help local people who need the food bank. So with the money we would have spent on dinner, we gave it to our church through fast offerings and to the food bank. For every dollar the food bank receives they can buy $7.50 worth of food.

Another act of service I receive a week after this event, was at Walmart. I went shopping for food while Nate stayed at home with napping kids. I had Hannah in the front pack and was exhausted by the end of the trip. The gentleman who was parked next to me just finished putting his food and kids in the car and then offered to do mine while I put Hannah in. I was so grateful for this big act of service to me.