One day, a boy named John walked to a local arcade. That day at the arcade they were giving each kid that came a token to play a game for free. Lots of kids came.
There were so many games at the arcade. Racing games, sports games, and many others. Kids raced around trying to get the most out of their free token.
John walked in wide-eyed. The games, the prizes, and all the kids left him amazed. It was so much more than he’d ever seen before.
John began to happily check out all of the games. They looked like so much fun. It all looked great; however, as he was looking around at everything, he noticed a boy sitting alone in a corner. He wasn’t running around happily like all the other kids. He was crying.
John walked over to the boy.
“Hello,” John said. “What’s your name?”
“Jimmy,” said Jimmy.
“Why are you crying?” asked John.
“I-” started Jimmy. “I lost my token and now I can’t play a game.”
Jimmy was broken-hearted. That token had been so important to him and he’d lost it. Now he had nothing.
John felt sorry for Jimmy. He knew how special the token was to any kid, and he couldn’t imagine what it would feel like to lose it. Then John remembered that he still had his coin. He hadn’t used it on a game yet. “And what better way to use it,” thought John. “Then to give it to a boy who had lost his.”
“Here,” said John, holding out his token. “You can have this.”
  Jimmy’s eyes lit up. “Really?”
“Of course,” said John.
“Thank you so much,” said Jimmy, giving John a huge hug. He was still crying, but John could tell they were tears of joy.
After being thanked immensely, John left the arcade.
Meanwhile, Jimmy was back at the arcade looking at all the games. He was filled with excitement and exhilaration because of what he’d been given.
He was about to play a game when he noticed a girl sitting nearby. She was sitting alone in a corner. Crying just as he had been.
Jimmy went right over to her.
“Hello,” he said. “What’s your name?”
“Lilly,” she said.
“Why are you sad?” asked Jimmy.
“I dropped my token while I was running around,” she said.
“Well take this then,” said Jimmy, holding the coin out to her.
Lilly was amazed. She never expected anyone at the arcade to do something like this.
“Thank you so much!” Lilly said, and gave him a huge hug.
Shortly after that, Jimmy left. Much to his surprise when he left the arcade, John was outside waiting for him. John was shocked to see Jimmy without a prize.
“Why don’t you have a prize?” John asked.
Jimmy, giving John a huge smile said “I gave my token to a girl named Lilly. She’d lost her token just like I did. I thought it’d be better to give it to her.”
John was still shocked, but his shock quickly changed to awe as they both waited outside the arcade for Lilly.
Meanwhile in the arcade, Mr. Kentips, the manager, was seeing something he’d never seen before. Over the years, he’d gotten used to seeing kids get happy or sad because of how they did at their game, but today was different. Today he saw kids who had been crying filled with exhilaration. Then later, those same kids left without a prize, but they left more joyful than he’d ever seen a kid leave.
“What is going on today?” he wondered.
At the end of the day, Mr. Kentips turned off the lights and games and went to close the arcade. Much to his surprise when he left the arcade there was a huge group of kids and their parents waiting outside. At first, he was a little scared to see the large group. Then one boy went up to him and gave him a huge hug. “Thank you,” said the boy. Then other kids and parents went up to thank him too.
The last person to thank him was Mr. Thompson, Jimmy’s father. Jimmy and John were standing there with him when he went up to thank Mr. Kentips.
“What happened today?” asked Mr. Kentips.
“Today John gave my son Jimmy his token. He’d lost his and was very sad. He’d still be that way except John decided to give his token to him,” explained Mr. Thompson.
“Why didn’t your son win a prize then?” asked Mr. Kentips.
“When Jimmy got that coin he was filled with so much joy,” said Mr. Thompson. “So when he was in the arcade and saw Lilly, who had lost a token just like him, he chose to give his token to her. What John did for Jimmy today started a reaction that touched the hearts of so many people, so I’d like to thank you for giving them the chance.”
After that, Mr. Thompson shook Mr. Kentips’ hand, Jimmy and John thanked him, and they left.
Mr. Kentips just stood there though. He was still taking it all in. It was overwhelming what had happened. John’s choice to give his token to Jimmy had changed tons of people at the arcade including him. It’d given everyone at the arcade a new perspective. A perspective that was focused on others and the importance of showing them grace, and that grace was the best thing that anyone at the arcade had ever left with.