I am a mother of three (ages 14, 12 & 3) and have recently completed my college degree. The last class I had to take was Sociology. The teacher was absolutely inspiring with the qualities that I wish every human being had been graced with. Her last project of the term was called "Smile".

The class was asked to go out and smile at three people and document their reactions. I am a very friendly person and always smile at everyone and say hello anyway. So, I thought, this would be a piece of cake, literally. Soon after we were assigned the project, my husband, youngest son and I went out to McDonald's one crisp March morning. It was just our way of sharing special playtime with our son.

We were standing in line, waiting to be served when, all of a sudden, everyone around us began to back away; even my husband did. I did not move an inch - an overwhelming feeling of panic welled up inside of me as I turned to see why they had moved. As I truned around, I smelled a horrible "dirty body" smell and, there, standing behind me, were two poor homeless men.

As I looked down at the short gentleman closest to me, I noticed he was "smiling". His beautiful sky blue eyes were full of God's Light as he searched for acceptance. He said, "Good day" as he counted the few coins he had been clutching. The second man fumbled with his hands as he stood behind his friend. I realized the second man was mentally deficient and the blue eyed gentleman was his salvation. I held my tears back as I stood there with them.

The young lady at the counter asked him what they wanted. He said, "Coffee is all, Miss", because that was all they could afford. (If they wanted to sit in the restaurant to warm up, they had to buy something. They just wanted to be warm.)

Then I really felt it - the compulsion was so great that I almost reached out to embrace the little man with the blue eyes. That is when I noticed that all eyes in the restaurant were set on me, judging my every action. I smiled then and asked the young lady behind the counter to give me two more breakfast meals on another tray. I then walked around the corner to the table that the men had chosen as a resting spot. I put the tray on the table and laid my hand on the blue eyed gentleman's cold hand. He looked up at me with tears in his eyes and said, "Thank you." I leaned over to pat his hand and said, "I did not do this for you. God is here working through me to give you hope."

I started to cry as I walked away to join my husband and son. When I sat down, my husband smiled at me and said, "That is why God gave you to me, Honey... To give me hope." We held hands for a moment and, at that time, we knew that only because of the Grace that we had been given, were we able to give.