I’m so glad that I learned how to stretch that capacity to love much further today. It really wasn’t until motherhood that I was able to fine tune that ability. With each child that came into our family, I would feel my heart and love grow just a little more for them.

This includes all of the foster children that were able to care for. I have a special place in my heart for each of them. I think about them and wonder how they are doing.

When people found out that we were a foster family, I would get lots of comments. The one that I think I heard the most was, ‘I don’t know how you can love someone and then give them back.’ I completely understand this way of thinking.

I’ll tell you how I was able to do it. I relied on Heavenly Father to get me through it. He asked me to foster, and I said yes. It is that simple. He helped me to understand that He has a plan for each of these special spirit children that are His. He would send them to me for however long they needed to be with me.

Then they would continue on their way along the path that He has prepared for them. He helped my heart break each time. He helped me to feel peace about their future. He helped me to know that my heart could grow. I told Him that I only had the capacity to love but so much. He told me, “Oh but you can love so much more.”

I thought that this ability was limited to my children. I am now learning a different way to love. Smiling at strangers is one of those ways. It helps me to have an instant love for those that I meet.

Last week, I was at Home Depot buying plants. The checkout line had been busy the entire time I browsed for plants. When I finally got in line, I was the third person. I was trying to decide about a last-minute dash to get a plant that I wanted, when I finally noticed that the line hadn’t moved in a quite a while.

It turns out, there was this sweet lady that had asked for help finding a particular type of flower. The cashier had left the booth to go look for it. While this was taking place, the line had at least five more people waiting.

Do you know what I was amazed at? I was amazed at the way no one seemed to be bothered by it. There was a couple who had just a few items and one of the customers at the back of the line kindly told them if they could buy their items inside it might be best.

After the woman made her purchase, another woman came over to her and they just started talking with each other. They had just met. Somehow, they connected in a way that was meaningful. It made me feel such joy to watch this interaction.

Everyone wanted to help this woman find the flowers that she so desperately wanted. No one was openly complaining about the delay to their day. I hope that I get to experience more of this as I go about my life.

The kindness and patience that was given to this woman makes me hopeful for the future. I think if maybe we can all just smile at a stranger, we can learn that we each have the ability to love so much more than we thought.