Twice Blessed

I witnessed an amazing event at church this morning. 
It was the time for the first of two collections.  The usher passing the basket made his way up the aisle.  The religious education children were sitting together and when he came to the area of the third grade children he paused, just 2 rows in front of me and across the aisle.  The young boy sitting on the end was searching through his pockets, presumably for the money his parents had given him to deposit in the basket.  The usher stood patiently, smile on his face, while the lad fanatically riffled though pocket after pocket, unable to come up with the change.  The boy looked up at the usher and the usher whispered, "that's OK" and moved on.

The boy's head went down, eyes looking at the floor.

Several seconds latter, a hand came across the aisle and deposited a quarter on the boy's bench.  The boy looked up and a young man in his thirties, not a relative of the boy, smiled.  The boy placed the quarter in the basket on the second collection with a smile on his face.

Later, at the sign of peace, when we turn and greet each other, a hand crossed the aisle again.  This time, the third grader reached out to shake his benefactor's hand.
 
It was an amazing tribute to the true love that church should be all about, beautiful to see played out just in front of me.

What's more beautiful is that the thirty something young man is my oldest son, Sean.

I have been blessed with 2 wonderful sons, Sean and Thomas.
They have both dealt with serious issues in their young lives.  They have had troubles and they have been in trouble.  Sean just recently started returning to church, had he not, he would not have been there for this young boy.
Just for today both my sons are healthy and well.  Their troubles have not ruined them, they have helped them to become the young men they are, loving and with hearts of gold. 

I could not be happier or more proud.