Justice Smith and his five-year-old son were on their way home from the dentist last October when Smith’s little boy taught him a lesson.
He shared the heartwarming story on Facebook, and it gained a lot of attention.
Take a moment to read this father and son’s interaction and then reflect on you would have handled the situation.
‘I almost messed up big time.’
Justice and his son, Justus, were on their way home from the dentist in October 2021, when the two were stopped at a traffic light and saw a homeless man standing in the median.
He wanted to give the man some money, but since Justice didn’t have any cash on hand all he could do was smile and wave.
But then his son spoke up.
“Uncoached he insisted that I give the man the 30 cents he had in his pocket,” Justice wrote on Facebook.
He admitted he was “hesitant” at first because he didn’t want to give the may just 30 cents.
“I then thought to myself, ‘Dude get over it. This is what we’ve been teaching him and now that he wants to give everything he has to offer in this moment, you’re going to let your personal self-centeredness ruin a possibly life-long, great memory and solid teaching moment? Leading by example is what we’ve been teaching him, so now let him lead. Let him give what he can to this man…'”
But still, Justice hesitated.
He knew that his inaction would go against everything he had taught his son.
“I almost showed him that what he sees as a good thing and is in fact a good thing, isn’t good enough to make a difference in someone’s life.I almost taught him that pride was more important than helping another human in need…”
As he wrote, he “snapped out of that foolishness,” rolled down his window, and caught the man’s attention.
“I then said, ‘I’m sorry man, I don’t have any cash on me, but my son back here wants to give you everything he has right now. He just turned 5!'”
The man replied, “God bless you little man! Thank you so much!”
Justice said his son’s action caused a chain reaction, and he watched several cars behind him also give to the man on the street.
“Who knew it’d be our 5-year-old to start the blessing??”
Way to go Justus! Look at what you can do when you’re just five years old, imagine the impact you’ll make when you get older.
And Justice, you are an amazing father for teaching your son valuable life lessons. It’s clear he’s learning from the best.
Please share this inspiring story.
