Pages

Saturday, June 6, 2009

God Bless You and the Blessing Box


New York was fun, and from previous posts you can see that. But two things that happened to me will stick in my mind for a long time.

First, we were on a boat cruise around the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. The host was good, and told a lot of history and told some good jokes. The tour lasted about and hour, and when the boat was heading back to the dock, he told us that if we liked his as a guide, that he would be holding a Blessing Box as we got off of the boat. Then he told us if we did not give a tip, that me may still be blessed. I looked at my wife, she looked at me and we just giggled. I have had some high pressure people want money from me before but this one took the cake. And I left a five dollar bill for him, because I know I need all of the blessings I can get.

And the God Bless you moment came after we had dinner at Olive Garden at Times Square. Outside our dinner table was an amazing sight. As I at my dinner I was not very hungry and had a lot of food left over. I didn't want to waste it and our hotel didn't have a fridge. So I had them box the food and hoped that I could find a homeless person to give it to. It only took two blocks and I saw a homeless man going through a garbage. I walked up to him, held out the bag and told him that if he wanted some dinner he could have it. He took it, gave me a toothless smile and Said, God Bless You. I looked at him and told him the same thing.

As I was walking back to the hotel I was smiling, knowing that for a few minutes I made someone very happy. Isn't that what life is about. The little things that make people happy.

4 comments:

JoAnn Arnold said...

Enjoyed reading your blog. Sounds like you enjoyed New York City in a way most of us don't get to. You get an interesting guide, and the chance to help a homeless man. I took note of the picture. Did you get to see "Wicked". I hope so. It is soooo good.

Doug Johnston said...

Hey JoAnn, I didn't see Wicked this trip. I saw it in LA last June and loved it.

And there is this taxi ride that I didn't think I was going to survive.. Wait, that is another blog entry for later.

Lovely Lisa said...

Great story, Doug!

Tawna said...

Doug forgot to mention that it was his wife's idea! I need all the blessings I can get also.