Random Acts of Kindness

The Day I saw my Child’s Face on a Milk Carton

By Bonnie Parker

Complied by Bonnie Parker

Justbefore

school started

and I was shopping for school clothes for my two older boys, Jay and Dwight, ages eight and ten, at a small children’s store in West Riverside. While I was helping them pick out and try on clothes, our baby, Scott, 14 months, was playing around the clothes racks.

Suddenly, I realized Scott was not where he had been a few minutes before and was nowhere to be seen in the little store. Frantically, I had the boys quickly change back to their clothes and asked the clerk to let me use the phone to call the police. There were two other customers in the store, one said, “I’ll go look for the child.”

As I was making a report to the police, I felt numb, helpless, and yes… in my mind I could see my child’s face on a milk carton! The policeman came and as he was making a missing child’s report (about 15 minutes had gone by), the lady that had gone to search returned….holding my baby -- she found him wandering down the aisles of a nearby grocery store! After this random act of kindness, I realize, and I knew, that I was the most grateful mother in the world!

You can make a difference in a person’s life!

by Carolyn Stuyvesant

Some years ago, I bought an all-weather coat with a zip- out lining at JC Penny’s in Redlands. I wore the coat a few days later with the lining removed. Later, try as I might, I could not zip the lining back into the coat. A few days later, I took the coat back and asked the clerk to help zip the lining back in. She tried, with no success. We looked for a replacement, but that particular model had sold out. Discouraged, I took the coat back home.

A few days later, I traveled to Arizona to meet family members, taking the coat and errant lining with me. Perhaps I could replace the items from a JC Penny’s branch there. At the store, I presented the coat and lining to the salesclerk who failed. Another salesclerk was called over and explained the problem. It was clear that English was not her first language. That clerk patiently worked with the zipper until finally, she correctly rejoined the two parts! (It has worked ever since!) All the while she spoke patiently and encouragingly to me.

I took the coat she returned to me, looked her in the eye and said, “Thank you. Please call your manager.” The poor clerk was worried and her eyes filled with tears, thinking I would lodge a complaint. Instead, I praised her, saying how courteously she had treated me and how patiently and successfully she worked with the coat that others had failed, and that this employee deserved a long tenure at the store. “You think I ought to keep her?” the manager asked. “Just last week

I told her that this would be her last day.” I protested that in spite of the language, this clerk surely was one of the best workers in the store. The manager looked over at the poor trembling clerk and said, “OK, you can come back to work tomorrow.” You should have seen the light that came to the clerk’s eyes! Who knows what difference a kind word or deed will make in a person’s life!

Sing to My Saviour

Sing to my Savior, Songs of sweet praise. He’s blest me greatly, All of my days.

Songs of assurance, From promises true; Jesus my Lord, Always comes through.

Burdens assail me, But my faith is strong. When one leans on Jesus, They cannot go wrong.

Whether hardship or death, I find at my door. When looking to Jesus, Heaven’s in store.

So – I sing to my Savior, Songs of sweet praise. Because - He has blest me, And yes - All of my days.

Betty Segreto McAllister

November 3, 2022