“All growth is a leap in the dark, a spontaneous unpremeditated act without the benefit of experience.”

~ Henry Miller

The parents of my son’s friend recently divorced. It’s been a hard time for him. They moved out of their home, and he went to live with his mother while his brother went to stay with his father. To make matters worse, he had to leave his school and move to a town about an hour away. He and my son are best friends. This entire situation is one big, sad sour note.

Tonight, he was back in town and showed up unexpectedly at our house. My son was excited and asked if he could stay over tonight. Since it was unplanned and my wife is out of town, it would have been easy to just say no.

That would have been easier, but it wouldn’t have gone against everything I’ve learned from this past year of giving.

I said yes and the next thing I knew, my son’s friend was walking into our house with a smile on his face and a tuba in his arms. Pretty soon, with my son on flute, we had a small concert going on in our living room.

When someone is going through a tough time it’s easy to try to avoid the situation. It’s easy not to get involved.

That isn’t what giving time is about. It’s about changing our habits so we recognize an opportunity to help another person and act.

It’s like making beautiful music.

Gave the ok to a spontaneous sleep-over that hit a high note.