Thinking of Others First

(Minghui.org) About eight years ago, several practitioners that I often met with were illegally arrested and sentenced. One practitioner’s situation at home was very difficult: after she was arrested there was no one to feed her young grandchildren, take them to kindergarten, or do the housework.

Before I began practicing Falun Dafa I had many illnesses. The most serious one was heart disease which caused me great pain. I had to rest for a while after I climbed the stairs, and I could not carry heavy things. Soon after I started practicing Falun Dafa, my health improved. I said goodbye to the medicines I relied on and my family was overjoyed. I am grateful to Master!

When I saw that a practitioner’s family needed help, I remembered that Master taught us to have compassion, so shouldn’t I help a fellow practitioner? But I also had responsibilities at home. One of my granddaughters was in elementary school and the other one was an infant. My son and daughter-in-law were busy working; my husband is old. I cook for the family, do the housework, etc... I wasn’t sure if I could take on more responsibilities.

My husband is also a practitioner. He agreed to take care of most of our household chores when I told him that I wanted to help a fellow practitioner and her family.

At first, the other practitioners agreed to take turns sending our two family’s grandchildren to kindergarten in the morning and then picking them up in the afternoon. But as time passed I was the only one who brought the children to school and then home as the other practitioners had various issues they had to take care of.

I thought: This is what I want to do, so I wasn’t upset when the other practitioners stopped helping. I helped the practitioner’s family for years, rain or shine.

In winter, I stood in the snow, waiting for the children. My hands and feet were numb from the cold. In summer, the children and I squeezed into a hot, overcrowded bus, and it was really difficult.

I finally asked my husband to ride a tricycle with me to pick up the children. We squeezed into my husband’s tricycle and took the other practitioner’s grandchildren home first.

As time passed, the children grew and could no longer fit in the tricycle, so we had to take a minivan taxi. One time when I chatted with the female driver, she asked me, “Are these all your children?” I said, “No, I’m taking care of them for my friend.” She thought I was a nanny, so then she asked, “How much are you paid per month to take care of so many children?”

When I told her that I was not paid, she exclaimed, “You are great! Who works for free nowadays?” I said, “I practice Falun Dafa. Our master asks us to be good people and to think of others first. I’m just doing what I should do.” She was moved and said, “You Falun Dafa practitioners are so great!”

We had to switch back to riding the bus to save money. One day, a pickpocket stole my wallet. I didn’t realize it because I was focused on the children at the time. I didn’t tell anyone what happened.

The children were easy to take care of when they were young, but when they grew up, they became difficult and naughty. When I called this one back the other ran away. I caught that one and this one ran away again. Once, when I went to pick them up, they were disobedient and kicked a ball into the road. They wanted to run into the road to pick it up. It was the afternoon rush hour for commuters, so I had to yell and stop them.

The practitioner whose grandchildren I took care of was tortured in prison. After she was released and returned home she was unable to take care of herself. Her husband divorced her, so her daughter and I took care of her. But her daughter had to go to work, so she was alone at home. I was worried about her so I often took care of her. We studied the Fa and I encouraged her to maintain righteous thoughts. We recited Master’s Fa about tribulations, “Nothing is truly unbearable or impossible.”

Our grandchildren are older now. In overcoming great tribulations, that practitioners did not waver in her faith in Dafa. These experiences helped me eliminate my human thoughts in the midst of difficulties and strengthened my righteous thoughts to think of others first.