Sometimes you just don’t believe anything wonderful will happen. And when you’re feeling useless and lost, even simple acts of compassion may help you recharge your batteries. A woman from southern Indiana had a miracle happen to her when a stranger decided to offer her compassion back in the day.

She awoke in September 1960 to discover that her spouse had abandoned her. She was on her own with six small children and barely 75 cents. She was sad, but she didn’t have time to mourn. She needed to put food on the table no matter what, so she started to drive around looking for work. Unfortunately, after visiting every factory and store in town, she was unable to locate any.

The last location she visited was a truck stop a few miles outside of town called the Big Wheel. Fortunately, she was able to find work here; the owner stated that she was searching for someone to cover the graveyard shift, which would go from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. She was content with the hourly wage of 65 cents. What happened later at this location was both unexpected and heartwarming. Here’s an excerpt from her internet article recounting the occasion.

«When I got home in the mornings, I woke the babysitter up and gave her one dollar of my tip money—more than half of what I averaged every night.» Heating expenditures strained my modest income as the weeks passed. The ancient Chevy’s tires had the substance of penny balloons and began to leak. I dragged myself to the car one gloomy fall morning to go home and discovered four tires in the back seat. Tire replacement! There was no notice or anything.

Had angels settled in Indiana?» I pondered.»

But the surprise didn’t end there!

On Christmas morning, just as she finished her shift and was about to leave, she saw her car packed with all kinds of boxes. She couldn’t believe her eyes as she opened them. «Inside was a whole case of little blue jeans, size 2–10!» she explained. I peered inside another package, which contained shirts to match the pants. Then I looked into several more boxes. There were candy, nuts, and grocery bags. There was a whole bag of laundry and cleaning goods.

I was weeping with thankfulness as I drove back through empty streets as the sun slowly rose.

And I’ll never forget the excitement on my children’s faces that lovely morning. Yes, angels existed in Indiana. They were all gathered at the Big Wheel truck stop.»

What a fantastic story! Such acts of compassion from our neighbors fill my heart with joy. What were your thoughts on the story? Have you ever been the recipient of a random act of kindness?