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The other day, we were in the cafe in Gillmor, and me, Trisha and Jon were walking out. Jon noticed that the lady working at the cash register was having a problem lifting the silverware out of the containers, so he stopped and helped her carry them over to where they needed to be. This was a very nice act that really helped the lady in the caferiteria. She really appreciated his help, and it wasn't something that took a long time. This is ordinary grace.

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A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation. The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. But a few days later he came back to return the stone to the wise woman.

"I've been thinking," he said, "I know how valuable the stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious. Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone."  

"The Wise Woman's Stone" 
 Author Unknown

So, this seems kind of wierd that all my stories of ordinary grace are coming from work, but... I spend some time there. I'm not sure if this constitutes as an "act of ordinary grace", but what this guy said to me was like reading straight out of Ordinary Grace. At McDonald's we are encouraged to use "One Minute Praising". This is where when you find someone who does something good, you praise them in front of everyone else, so they feel like they are getting special recognition and it makes them do their jobs right. Well, at the new store I work at, the managers aren't very good at this. They always yell instead of praise, so the crew aren't used to my way of doing things. I'm not even sure what I was praising Garret for, but his eye's just got real wide and he just stopped what he was doing and looked at me. He said thank you and we went on with our jobs. Well, when I went to the office to start counting drawers for the night, he knocked on the door. He came in and was like, "It's amazing how you can pick out the good things about people. I know I'm not an all-star employee who does everything right, but you didn't mention that in front of everyone. I really like how you can see the positive qualities in people. I've noticed it from the first day I've worked with you, not just with me, you're like this with everybody. I'm not sure if you believe in karma,but I do... and I think you've got a good road ahead of you."

WOW. This almost made me cry. It said alot for him also that he could notice that I was trying really hard not to point out everything he was doing wrong, and that he said this to me. It seriously made my day.. and well, his too.

I work in Fostoria, not the most wealthy place in the world and it has a bad reputation. Actually, it's kind of scary, and I don't really like it. But, there's this bum, his name is Clancy. Apparently, everyone in Fostoria knows him, everyone who has lived in Fostoria in the past 30 years knows him. He's notorious. Well, he is a very old war veterian. He's just not all there, you know ... the kind of people that you cross the street to avoid, that's Clancy. He's dirty, and smells, and he talks to himself. He comes to McDonald's, every day. Well, he was walking around the drive thru, and I was watchin him, because he scares me. Well, to my surprise, he starts to pound on the window. Yah. It scared me. ALot. Well, I opened the window, and he gives me a handful of change and tells me to give it to our charity for the kids. I almost cried. How can a man, who has nothing, who sleeps in the post office hand me change he could use and tell me to give it to the kids and in the same country we have people who have millions upon millions of dollars stashed away and don't help anyone? I felt like I should give some of my money to charity because I have more than I need right now. Just kind of makes you think.