Recently I was accompanied by a friend to attend a conference in Miami. This particular friend has been the subject of one of my Examiner articles as well as a contributor to my latest book. She has earned my admiration and respect because she doesn't wait for opportunities to do good things - she makes them. And, I was again witness to some of them on this trip.
Our plane to Ft. Lauderdale arrived at the gate, and it was soon announced that there was a mechanical problem with an unknown delay. While I passed the time chatting away with two women lined up in wheelchairs, Belinda realized something the rest of us did not.
During our two hour wait, she watched a number of able-bodied individuals make the trek to the bathroom that was twenty yards or more away, but no one thought about the two elderly ladies in wheelchairs. She quickly hustled to their sides and offered to push them to the restroom. Both readily accepted and were extremely grateful for this kind gesture.
Belinda uses all of her resources (time, money, and effort) in the best possible way - doing whatever she can to help others. Her actions are what we Christians recognize as heeding Luke 12:48 "...From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded..."
In her years as a landlord, she has never raised the rent on her long-term occupants. She makes purchases that she may not need just because it will help the people who are selling. She routinely buys items for people in need, regardless of whether they are strangers or someone she knows.
When we returned to our home airport after the conference, I was again witness to one of Belinda's kind gestures. As luggage was spewed onto the carousel, she began turning them vertically for easy retrieval. Nothing big, but certainly a nice convenience for anyone trying to retrieve them.
She is an unsung hero who performs these acts because she knows we are on this earth to care for one another. She sets an excellent example and the bar pretty high for the rest of us.
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