Thankful For A Good Samaritan

I met a real-life Good Samaritan on Saturday and I can't stop thinking about her. It's actually pretty random how it came to be. She saw the article in the Houston Chronicle last month about our son Jacob, and the part about him wanting to continue his studies in German struck a chord with her. So she sat down and wrote him a letter, first to congratulate him for being such a diligent student, and then to offer him some of the books from the estate of a neighbor who'd immigrated from Germany. She mailed it to the high school and it was delivered to Jacob . . . you guessed it . . . in his German class. Such a heartwarming gesture from a total stranger and such a generous offer for her to make.

So we went over to the house where the books have been collecting dust on a shelf since her neighbor passed away three years ago, and I got to visit with that Good Samaritan while Jacob browsed through the 

foreign-language treasure trove.

They weren't necessarily even friends, she and her neighbor, but when that neighbor needed her, this Good Samaritan was there for her. And when that neighbor could no longer care for herself, the Good Samaritan helped care for her. And now, three years later, she's still working to get some things sold and settle the estate so that the money that's left gets dispersed to the proper charities to honor her neighbor's memory. 

And when I inquired as to why she was willing to do all of this for a neighbor who wasn't even particularly friendly toward her, she said that the story of the Good Samaritan replayed in her heart and that she just couldn't pass by someone in need without lending a hand. 

It's probably that same tug at her heart that made her reach out to a teenager in the newspaper and send him a letter offering him some 

German books to further his studies.

Today I'm thankful to have met that real-life Good Samaritan!