According to a story reportedly written by Leo Buscaglia, “On a cold day in December, some years ago: A little boy, about 10 years old, was standing before a shoe store on the roadway, barefooted, peering through the window, and shivering with cold.

“A lady approached the young boy and said, ‘My, but you’re in such deep thought staring in that window!’

“‘I was asking God to give me a pair of shoes,’ was the boy’s reply.

“The lady took him by the hand, went into the store, and asked the clerk to get half a dozen pairs of socks for the boy. She then asked if he could give her a basin of water and a towel. He quickly brought them to her.

“She took the little fellow to the back part of the store and, removing her gloves, knelt down, washed his little feet, and dried them with the towel.

“By this time, the clerk had returned with the socks. Placing a pair upon the boy’s feet, she then purchased a pair of shoes for him.

“She tied up the remaining pairs of socks and gave them to him. She patted him on the head and said, ‘No doubt, you will be more comfortable now.’

“As she turned to go, the astonished child caught her by the hand, and looking up into her face, with tears in his eyes, asked, ‘Are you God’s wife?’”²

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, open the eyes of my heart so that wherever there is a pressing need placed across my path, I will see it—and help to meet it. And wherever there is a hurt, please help me to heal it. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. James 1:27

2. Leo Buscaglia.