5-year-old donates everything he has to homeless man and teaches his dad an important lesson

5-year-old Justus Mateo taught his dad, Justice Smith, a valuable lesson as they were returning from the dentist and noticed a homeless man in the road's median strip. Smith stated on Facebook that he wanted to offer the man money but didn't have any cash on him. His son also noticed the man and then something happened that the father will remember for the rest of his life, reports Good News Network. He wrote in his post, "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." 

He further added, "I was more than happy he wanted to do this with joy (it means he’s been watching), BUT honestly I was hesitant. I didn’t want to give this man who clearly needed all the help he could get, just 30 cents. My own pride and thoughts of the homeless individual’s unknown reaction to receiving just two coins was standing in the way.” He further added that he "quickly realized" that he was the only problem in the situation and he had to act fast as the traffic light would turn green at any moment. He thought to himself, "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?"

Smith wrote while realizing his mistake, "I almost told my son, 'Let's wait to give until we at least have one dollar.' I almost told our son by my inaction that what he had wasn't enough. " He feared that he would imply that whatever his son has at the moment isn't enough to make a difference in the world. Smith decided to roll down the window and let his son offer his help to the man. He wrote, "I rolled down my window, hoping that this individual wouldn't be offended or hurt that I only gave him the 30 cents. I then said, "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!" This man reportedly gave the boy a big smile and said, "God bless you little man! Thank you so much!"

This heartwarming gesture started a "chain reaction" and instead of honking horns as the lights turned green, people started rolling down their windows and offered help to the man in need. Smith wrote expressing his joy, "Who knew it'd be our 5-year-old to start the blessing??" He added, "How foolish would I have been as a father, as a parent, to not have allowed my son to give because of my own insecurities or baseless embarrassment in that moment?" He stated that his son taught him an important lesson, "It doesn't matter how much you have or how little; giving in love and sincerity will often bless others more than we think." 

He concluded his post by writing, "The only thing that matched the brightness of that stranger's smile after that moment was the sun; and even more than that, the bigger smile on our "baby" boy's face!"