Justus Mateo didn’t have a lot, but he knew that he had everything he needed in his life.
So, when the 5-year-old saw a homeless man he decided to give him all the money he had.
But Justus’ dad, Justice Smith said he “almost messed up big time.”
The two saw a homeless man on their way back from the dentist.
“I wanted to give him money but didn’t have any cash on me so I just nodded my head and waved to him with a smile. Our son Justus Mateo noticed the man as well,” Smith wrote in a Facebook post. “And then it happened… Uncoached he insisted that I give the man the 30 cents he had in his pocket. It’s almost as if he heard my thoughts and responded out loud.”
Smith knew that .30 cents doesn’t amount to much and really couldn’t help the man and didn’t want to insult the man by giving him a few coins.
“My own pride and thoughts of the homeless individual’s unknown reaction to receiving just two coins were standing in the way,” he said.
But something told him to keep moving forward.
“I 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?’”
He was afraid that he would teach his son that being prideful was more important than helping someone else.
He didn’t want to undo all the work he had done by trying to teach his son to lead by example.
So, he let his son lead and decided to let Justus give them man the .30 cents but spoke to the man first.
“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,” he said.
It turns out, he didn’t insult the man at all.
“The only thing that matched the brightness of that stranger’s smile after that moment was…the bigger smile on our ‘baby’ boy’s face!!” Smith shares. “Our little boy, without even realizing it, reminded me once again by his actions that it’s always about the heart. It doesn’t matter how much you have or how little; giving in love and sincerity will often bless others more than we think.”
What’s even more amazing is that Justus started a chain reaction.
The cars behind them started giving too.
Smith said he is grateful that his son has his wife’s heart.
“Thank you for sharing this. It melts my heart knowing that there are still kind-hearted people in this world instilling EXCELLENT values in their child,” wrote one commenter on Facebook.
“Oh, what a priceless moment for both of you and the lesson from that is one he will carry for the rest of his life!” said another.
Check out the full Facebook post below.
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Source: Upworthy, My Modern Met
