Thing that make me smile

I have never been one of those people that believe good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. If I had ever had those fantasies in my head, 28 years of life experience would surely have changed my mind. However, some days things happen that assure me that despite the fallen world in which we live, there is plenty of good going around, and sometimes it makes it to me. I would like to share two experiences that have recently made my day.

About a week ago I set off on the bus to take a short trip across town to a climbing gym. I have been getting more involved in rock climbing, and I occassionally practice at a local gym. I hopped off the bus near my destination and began walking down the street. I heard someone behind me and turned around as a young woman lightly grabbed my arm and held out a 20 peso bill (worth about $2). I couldn't understand exactly what she said, but I knew that I must have dropped the bill and she had picked it up and chased me down the street to return it. I wanted to say more than just "Thank you" but I was so surprised that she was gone before I could get anything out besides "Gracias." It was a very little thing that really made my day. There have been several times I can think of where I have done similar things, but to have someone do that for me was special.

Last night I was once again rock climbing, this time at the wall we have on campus. I finished my final climb just before they turned the lights out at the wall. As we began putting the equipment away in the dark, I realized that one of my hearing aids was missing. It must have fallen out of my ear while I was climbing. I immediately asked everyone to help me look for it, and to please be careful where they were stepping. I showed them what the other one looked like, and within a minute or two my buddy Tom the Aussie had found it right under where I had been climbing. As I thanked Tom and put the hearing aid back in my ear, my mind was suddenly flooded with memories from a fall day many years ago when I was in elementary school. I think it was in third grade. We had been at recess, running around on the playground that was covered with a thick layer of freshly fallen autumn leaves. As we prepared to go back inside, I noticed a kid named Chris was crying. Chris had a slight speech impediment which was probably caused by the fact that he couldn't hear very well. He wore the big hearing aids that fit behind his ears, with tubes running into his ear. It's no big deal for me to wear state-of-the-art hearing aids that are so small they can barely be noticed, but kids used to make fun of Chris for his. I asked him what was wrong and he struggled to tell me and some other kids that he had lost one of his hearing aids. Our teacher came over and we all began to search through the leaves for the hearing aid. I remember thinking that we would never find it in the huge piles of leaves, but after a few minutes I ran my hand through a pile and when I pulled it out the hearing aid was in my hand. I remember how grateful and relieved Chris had been, and I remember making a new friend that day, but I never knew how he felt until today. For some reason I cried thinking about Chris and about how kids treated him and finally being able to realize how much those hearing aids meant to him. Knowing how expensive hearing aids are, and how much more expensive they must have been twenty years ago, I thought about his parents getting them for him and how much he just wanted to be able to hear and speak like everyone else. I said a prayer and thanked God for these little things, and for how He uses them to teach us, and I said a prayer for Chris Pennington, wherever he is right now.