Kathy was slow to answer the door and appeared caught off guard by my kids as they shouted, “Merry Christmas!” before handing her a round tin box. The kids had spent the previous day in the kitchen making fudge with my wife for the neighbors, and now their favorite part had arrived: Delivery Day!

But something wasn’t right. Kathy was reluctant to accept the gift, and she looked like she might be unsure of her surroundings as she peered past the kids and looked around the street. I said a few nice words and told her I’d get my crazy kids out of her hair. The kids shouted a few more times, “Merry Christmas” and “God bless you.”

It was December 24, 2019. A few months later, the world shut down.

My family thrived during the lockdown. We found countless ways to bond, and our activity was sitting on the front lawn and talking with neighbors as they walked by. While talking with some other neighbors, we learned the sad news that Kathy’s husband had lost his battle with cancer in the first few weeks of the new year. We were sad for her and wanted to find a way to show our support.

My wife and kids knew that Kathy walked the dogs daily, so they gathered some chalk and wrote an encouraging note along her route. It read, “Hi, Mrs. Kathy. Thinking about you! Stay safe!”

Kathy stopped us later that week and said she had something important to share. She recalled the day my kids gave her Christmas fudge and explained why she was somewhat aloof when she answered the door. Her husband had been in the hospital for several weeks leading up to Christmas that year, and she was certain that his passing was imminent and that they’d spend the holidays at the medical center.

But to her dismay, the hospital released her husband on Christmas Eve and sent them home that morning. She didn’t plan on being home for Christmas, and she wasn’t ready to receive him back home. There were no Christmas lights on the house, no decorations anywhere inside, and almost no food in the fridge.

They had been home for about an hour, and Kathy was focusing on how to care for and feed her husband when the doorbell rang. To her surprise, Kathy opened the door to the joyful noise of neighborhood kids delivering holiday cheer and a box of delicious Christmas fudge. When she returned inside, she brought the fudge to her husband, and they enjoyed the treat together.

She said that the joy of the kids and their homemade fudge made their last Christmas complete. We cried as we listened to her recall the story. It was heartbreaking and beautiful at the same time.

Heading into Christmas this year, I think about the takeaways from our time with Kathy and the unsuspecting gift that made such an impact. In a world where we can search for any fact in seconds, there is still more we will never know.

We never know what someone else is going through. At times, we may know part of their story, but we can fully understand the heart of a person and their lived experiences. How often do we judge strangers or neighbors when they don’t seem to appreciate a gesture without actually knowing what is happening in their lives at the moment?

We never know the impact of our good deeds, but we should do them anyway. I bet there are thousands of encounters and moments of providence each year, like the story of Kathy and the Christmas fudge, that are never revealed to us. Our kind words, gifts, notes, sacrifices, and sometimes even our eye contact and smile can profoundly affect the lives of others.

Maybe this story is what you need to hear today. If that’s the case, then Merry Christmas, and God bless you.