As I went to the drugstore the other day, I saw something happen that really touched my soul. It was extremely cold outside, the wind was blowing, and the snow was falling. As I walked into the drugstore, I couldn’t help but hear the familiar sound of a bell ringing out by a Salvation Army kettle. The gentleman ringing the bell looked very cold and tired, but when someone walked by, he would say Merry Christmas with a big smile, regardless if they had put money in the kettle or not.

A young woman and her daughter walked up to the kettle to give a donation, when all of a sudden the young woman said, “Oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t bring any cash, only my credit card.” You could tell the young lady wasn’t making this up because she looked very sad. Her daughter, who was about four or five years old, broke down in tears, with a very sad look on her face also, and said, “but Mommy, I wanted to help.” And then, just as I was getting ready to go outside and give the little girl a dollar to put into the kettle, something happened that touched my soul so much, that I will never forget it.

Here was this cold and tired volunteer bell ringer reaching into HIS pocket, and out came a quarter. I continued to watch him gently lay it on the ground. Then when the little girl and her mother were getting ready to leave, he said to the little girl, “Hey! look down there on the ground, its a quarter, and its yours if you pick it up.” The little girl picked up the quarter, and looked up at the Salvation Army volunteer, with a huge smile on her face, and exclaimed, “Oh, Thank You! God must have sent me this quarter, so I could give it to you.” With that said, she dropped the quarter into the kettle and she and her mother went on there way.

As I stared out the door at that wonderful and caring soul, I developed a tear in my eye and knew what I had to do. I walked back into the drugstore to purchase one more thing and as I walked back out to the volunteer, I dropped a dollar in the kettle, and the gentleman, with a big smile on his face, said Merry Christmas to me. I then turned to him, and said, “Merry Christmas to you also, and by the way, I don’t think even God should be working out here without gloves.” With that said, I handed him a pair of gloves, and then we both had a teardrop in our eye.