blessings come in all packages

Yesterday I was the recipient of kindness from a complete stranger.  It was such a lovely moment in my life I thought it was worthy of a mention.
Now I know most of my readers are from different parts of the world, so you may not appreciate the code of AFL  (Aussie rules football).  Anyway, I was at a game of AFL and my youngest daughter whom is a very busy human being was not willing to sit still throughout the game.  She also kept poking the people in front of us, to which not even an apology would ease their pain.  The best thing for her and the people around was to take her out and go to the park.
This park is quite impressive. For all the people who had the honour of coming to or witnessing the 2000 Olympics in Sydney this is where the park is.  They have converted the Olympic village into a beautiful area of parks & playgrounds for the whole family.
Well, as I was sitting there watching my child play and enjoy not being confined to a seat and the rules of being a spectator, my daughter found a Frisbee. She had great pleasure playing with.  However my daughter is not the most aware person, so she was just throwing it around the playground.
Next to me was a lady of a different culture. While sitting there, her husband and adult son joined us on the bench and her young daughter was playing on the equipment trying to impress her mum and dad.  She continued to seek their approval by yelling out 'mum, dad, brother, look at me'.
The family continued to talk amongst themselves in their language.  I like the sound of family banter.  It gives an insight into how a family relates to one another.  As they continued to chat, my girl was throwing the Frisbee.  She called out my name and threw it toward me and the other family.  The frisbee was clearly heading toward us more likely to hit the family than me, so just before it could hit them I reached out and grabbed it.  I didn't quite have a grasp of the toy but stopped from hitting anyone.
We all began to laugh as they realised I didn't quite catch it.  They were also quite good humoured about the whole thing.  I made a comment about me almost catching the frisbee.  We kind of laughed it off and then went back to the way before the 'fresbee' incident.
As we were sitting there, I turned and noticed the lady had pulled out a bag of mandarins.  She proceeded to peel the fruit.  She was insistent her son have a piece of fruit.  I turned around to observe what my girl was doing when I was presented with a mandarin.  I was completely taken back.  This lady whom I did not know and did not share any common relationship with except motherhood, was offering me a gift of fruit.  At first I politely declined the offer and said, 'No thank you' but looking into her face and seeing her kindness and willingness to share what was hers, when she insisted the second time, I gladly accepted.  I was so touched by her generosity and thanked her for her kindness.  The lady acknowledged  me but didn't not speak, she just nodded.  We ate our fruit in silence enjoying watching our children and the other kids at the park enjoy themselves.
I'd have to say it was the sweetest mandarin to taste.  Sweet because it was given in true generosity.  Sweet because a stranger was willing to share and sweet because regardless of our differences we found a common ground in our fellowship of human kind.
It was then time to go.  My husband had arrived with my other daughter and it was getting late.  The family on my bench also had to leave.  Before they left, I thanked them once again for their kindness to which I was proud to tell my husband of the lady's gesture.  As they walked away the only English the lady spoke was 'goodbye'.  As they walked away I prayed they would receive as much blessing as they had blessed me.  Some may say it was just a small piece of fruit but it was more than that.  Kindness speaks the language of many and it is a universal language and the beauty of it is, everyone understand it no matter how it comes and from whom it comes.