If a 3 year old can do it, so can I

Let me tell you the story that made my daughters day and in turn melted my heart. 

After nap today we loaded up in the stroller and walked the four blocks over to the park.   This is a pretty normal occurrence for us and like many other days we were meeting some friends there. The kids rode bicycles, played on the slides, chased each other around, swang on the swings, and picked up little bugs.  They spent a couple hours enjoying the fall air and just being kids.  As we were loading up, Zoe's friend Levi remembered he had something special he wanted to do.

Levi knows that Zoe loves to play with balls.  Earlier in the day he had picked out one of his own bouncy balls just for her.  He told his mom that he wanted to bring it with him to the park so he could give it to Zoe.  So as we were getting bikes and strollers situated, Levi dug out his bouncy ball and presented it to my baby girl.  Zoe was all smiles.  A pink and blue bouncy ball in her world is just about the greatest thing ever. For the rest of the afternoon and evening Zoe played with and chatted about Levi and the bouncy ball he gave her.

Levi is 3 years old.  He didn't have to work at it, he simply put the desires of another before his own.  Of course he loves bouncy balls as much as any other 3 year old does, but he wanted to do something special.  He put his friend first.  He didn't give hoping to get something in return, and he certainly didn't care if anyone was watching or what they thought. 

Today Levi is my hero.  He demonstrated generosity, caring, thoughtfulness, and love.  These are all qualities I want people to look at me and see in my life.  How great would every day be if we would all practice such simple acts of kindness?  If a 3 year old can do it, so can I.