Her name is Donna. Donna is a member of our church. She is a mentor in our Kids Hope USA program. Every week she goes to a nearby elementary school to be a friend, encourager, and mentor to a little boy named John.
John looks to be 6 or 7 years old. Donna and John have bonded in a beautiful way. Though there is quite a difference in their ages, Miss Donna – as John calls her- has become John’s best friend.
Once each week, she visits him at school, helps him with his school work… and then “going the second mile” every Saturday, Donna takes John to do exciting things that without Donna, John would likely never get to do – things like the zoo, the museum, the Galleria.
A few months ago, Donna’s husband died in his sleep. Little John came to the funeral to support his friend Miss Donna in her grief. At the reception in the Hines Baker Room after the memorial service, John stood beside Donna and held her hand.
She had been there for him and now he was there for her. He would not leave her side. It was a beautiful moment and people in the room had tears in their eyes, so touched by John’s intense commitment to lovingly stand by Miss Donna, his friend and mentor.
Some of us saw John eyeing the goodies on the reception table – punch and chocolate chip cookies in abundance… and some of us said to him, “John, would you like to walk over here and have some refreshments?”
But no, he would not leave Donna’s side. “I want to stay here with Miss Donna.” he would say. The love between the two of them was so radiant and powerful in that room.
Also in the room that day was a man from Chicago. He had flown all the way from Chicago to Houston to be with Donna. Do you know why? Because 38 years ago when he was in first grade, Donna had been his mentor at an elementary school in the Chicago area.
He flies from Chicago to Houston every summer to see Donna and to thank her for what she did for him 38 years ago – and then he made this special trip to be with Donna when her husband suddenly died.
That man from Chicago says to Donna every time he comes, “I am what I am today because of the love and support you gave me 38 years ago.”
He says, “Ms. Donna, you were the first person in my life who believed in me.” And today little John says to her in words and actions: “Miss Donna, I love you. I know you love me. You are my best friend.”
Now, where did Donna learn to love like that, to reach out to people in need like that, to make a difference in people’s lives like that? You know, don’t you? From Jesus.
Thanks to James W. Moore for sharing this story.
Are YOU like Miss Donna in this world? If not, what is keeping YOU from being like her?
My Commentary:
This story shows us what the love of Christ looks like when it puts on flesh.
Donna does not preach sermons or command crowds. She simply shows up — week after week, year after year. She enters a child’s life not as a project, but as a friend.
She gives time, attention, and presence, the rarest gifts in our hurried world. In doing so, she gives something even greater: the conviction that someone matters.
The moment at the funeral reveals the depth of that love. The child who had been nurtured now becomes the comforter. John’s refusal to leave Donna’s side speaks louder than any words. Love, when it is real, is mutual. It does not calculate age or status. It simply stays. In that room, grief and grace stood hand in hand.
Then comes the quiet miracle of memory. A man crosses hundreds of miles to honor a woman who once believed in him when no one else did. Decades pass, careers form, lives unfold — and yet the seed planted by Donna’s faithfulness still bears fruit. This is the long reach of love. It travels through time.
Jesus once said that whoever receives a child in His name receives Him.
Donna lives that truth. She has learned that loving one person well can ripple outward beyond our imagination. Her life reminds us that the Kingdom of God grows not by grand gestures, but by faithful hearts.
Donna learned to love like this from Jesus — and through her, Jesus is still loving today.
IN A SOCIETY THAT HAS YOU COUNTING YOUR MONEY, YOUR HOURS AND YOUR CALORIES, BE A REBEL AND COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS!
Every time I read this, tears fill my eyes. Please share it so that a friend of yours may also shed some “happy tears.”
