Faithimg
A woman was in line to pay for her food that she was about to eat, when she was stopped by a young boy. He had just one simple thing to say to the stranger, which left her speechless and sobbing.
Jerry Hatcher Jr. was awake before the sun on Christmas Eve day, but not because he couldn’t wait for the festivities of the holiday or to open presents. Instead, he dawned his finest Sunday suit with just one mission in mind, something he needed to accomplish that was unlike what most other children were doing before Christmas.
He headed down to the children’s hospital in Atlanta with something in his pocket that he had been keeping for about a year. Jerry walked into the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta cafeteria and hid behind one of the registers. His plan had stemmed from a heartbreaking experience he had several years earlier, and on Christmas Eve this year, he was prepared to carry it out.
The young boy waited for an unsuspecting hungry hospital guest to arrive. When a tired woman, who was spending the holidays with her ill child, came down to get a bite to eat, Jerry popped up from behind the register and plopped down the cash to pay for her meal. He said that he wanted to bless her, as he shouted, “Merry Christmas!”
Jerry had saved up all of his money for a year for this very occasion, when he paid for the meals of as many guests as he could, until his allowance, which he had stashed in his pocket, ran out. “Talk about unexpected blessings and kindness,” Crista Resch wrote on the hospital’s Facebook posts about Jerry’s good deed for struggling families. “Totally caught me off guard, as you can see. Such a sweet young man.”
Kris Nichols, another hospital guest blessed by this special servant of God that morning, was so taken aback by his kindness that she gave the boy $40 to keep the good deed going that day. Jerry knows all too well what these people are going through, having to wake up on Christmas morning in a sterile hospital room with the looming feeling of illness.
Jerry almost lost his little brother in a children’s hospital, but he overcame the insurmountable odds. The family has been home together for Christmas each year since. The blessing of that miracle is not lost on Jerry, and he’s also forever thankful to have his family fully intact, after he almost lost his sibling. Since the day his brother was released, Jerry has been saving money and blessing less fortunate families for the last three years.
This little boy was raised right by his parents and knows more about sacrifice and selfless service than most adults. He could have used some or all of his hard-earned cash to buy something special for himself, but he chose to use it on others who could use some cheer more than him. He’s a credit in a generation of kids being raised on entitlement and also an incredible example to people two or three times his age. He truly knows what life is all about.
