our rig mechanic forwarded this short story to me, it was beautiful.  whoever made this, i know she has touched a lot of hearts with her story, god really works in mysterious ways.  here it goes:

I am a mother of three and have recently completed my college degree.  The last class I had to take was Sociology; the teacher was absolutely inspiring with the qualities that I wish every human being had been graced with.  Her last project of the term was called: ‘Smile’.  The class was asked to go out and smile at three people and document their reactions.  I am a very friendly person and always smile at everyone and say hello anyway.  So, I thought this would be a piece of cake, literally. 

Soon after we were assigned the project, my husband, youngest son, and I went out to McDonald’s one crisp March morning.  It was just our way of sharing special playtime with our son.  We were standing in line, waiting to be served, when all of a sudden everyone around us began to back away, and then even my husband did…  I did not move an inch – an overwhelming feeling of panic welled up inside of me as I turned to see why they had moved.  As I turned around I smelled a horrible ‘dirty body’ smell, and there standing behind me were two poor homeless men.  As I looked down at the short gentleman, close to me, he was ‘smiling’.  His beautiful sky blue eyes were full of God’s Light as he searched for acceptance.  He said, ‘Good day’ as he counted the few coins he had been clutching.  The second man fumbled with his hands as he stood behind his friend.  I realized the second man was mentally challenged and the blue-eyed gentleman was his salvation.  I held my tears as I stood there with them.  

The young lady at the counter asked him what they wanted.  He said, ‘Coffee is all Miss’, because that was all they 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 I really felt it – the compulsion was so great I almost reached out and embraced the little man with the blue eyes.  That is when I noticed all eyes in the restaurant were set on me, judging my every action.  I smiled and asked the young lady behind the counter to give me two more breakfast meals on a separate tray.  I then walked around the corner to the table that the men had chosen as a resting spot.  I put the tray on the table and laid my hand on the blue-eyed gentleman’s cold hand.  He looked up at me, with tears in his eyes, and said, ‘Thank you.’  I 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.’  I started to cry as I walked away to join my husband and son.  When I sat down my husband smiled at me and said, ‘That is why God gave you to me, Honey, to give me hope.’  We held hands for a moment and at that time, we knew that only because of the Grace that we had been given were we able to give.   We are not church goers, but we are believers.  That day showed me the pure Light of God’s sweet love.

 I returned to college, on the last evening of class, with this story in hand.  I turned in ‘my project’ and the instructor read it.  Then she looked up at me and said, ‘Can I share this?’  I slowly nodded as she got the attention of the class.  She began to read and that is when I knew that we as human beings and being part of God share this need to heal people and to be healed.  In my own way I had touched the people at McDonald’s, my son, the instructor, and every soul that shared the classroom on the last night I spent as a college student.  I graduated with one of the biggest lessons I would ever learn: UNCONDITIONAL ACCEPTANCE.

this was sent thru e-mail as a chain letter, so i just did some editing.  anyways, it was still a good read.

i was about to go to the coffee shop outside the mall.  the night before, i just attended a surprise birthday party of a friend that lasted till early morning.  i thought of having breakfast, for anyways, i was planning to wait for the mall to open.  i needed to buy my mama a sans rival cake that i promised her.  as i was near the shop i heard people singing, it was echoing from a church nearby. 

it is the same church where i was christened, i have forgotten the last time i went to mass, probably a year or so.  i still consider myself as a catholic, an inactive one, for reasons that i do not need anyone to tell me what to believe and not to believe. 

i believe in God, he is my Lord.  i pray to him before i sleep for him to watch over my family,  i thank him for the everyday blessings he offers me, for every sunrise i see, for every moment of being happy.

i went inside the church, the priest has started his homily, which was in english.  as we were asked to stand up for the lord’s prayer i remembered the days when i was an altar boy at age 10, it was then that i thought that priesthood will be  my vocation, i sort of have a “calling”..

i was totally wrong. 

by fate, it was not to be.  my mama told me that it was not what was planned for me, and i did accepted that but there were times then that i did not clearly understood what was for me..

now, i have known the reasons behind everything.