I received an email that brought tears to my eyes. It had a message of "Little things lead to big things."

If you have a computer, please look on the Internet for "Brokaw, the greatest generation and the candy bomber." It will be a 13-minute YouTube video. But it's worth every second.It is the story of Col. Gail S. "Hal" Halvorsen, now a 94-year-old retired career officer and command pilot in the United States Air Force. He is known as the Candy Bomber.After World War II, he piloted C-47s and C-54s during the Berlin airlift (also known as "Operation Vittles") during 1948-49.The Soviets had put up a blockade to the people of West Berlin in the hopes the three major allies, Britain, France and the U.S., would leave. But thanks to the tireless efforts of the U.S. and Britain, they flew in food, supplies and coal for almost a year, until the Soviets lifted the blockade in 1949.One day he observed about 30 Berlin children watching the flights from behind a barbed wire fence. He wanted to do something nice for them and reached into his pocket to pull out only two sticks of chewing gum. He broke each one into four sections and handed them to them. The children divided the gum, but what struck him was how they handed the gum wrappers around so they could each have a chance to sniff it.Wanting to do something more for the children of this war-ravaged city, he thought, "candy." He told them to watch for his airplane the next day. He wiggled his arms to show them they should look for the plane wiggling its wings so they would know it was him, and they would get a surprise. He went back to his crew, asked for handkerchiefs and all the candy they could find. They tied the candy to the handkerchiefs, turning them into little parachutes. The next day, he flew over the spot where the children waited and dropped his "candy bombs," earning the names of "Uncle Wiggly Arms" and "Candy Bomber."Well, the other pilots loved this idea and soon Operation Little Vittles was born and it grew. The operation was noticed by the press and gained widespread attention. Public support led to donations, which enabled Halvorsen and his crew to drop 850 pounds of candy. By the end of the airlift, around 25 plane crews had dropped 23 tons of chocolate, chewing gum and other candies over various places in Berlin. The Confectioners Association of America donated large amounts to the effort, and American schoolchildren attached candies to parachutes.A little thing of wanting to give children a piece of candy led to a big thing of initiating healing in a war-torn country which brought smiles and heartfelt appreciation from hundreds of children.Kindness is often masked by little things.Take the Operation Christmas Child project that is now going on in churches and organizations across the country. It is a ministry of Samaritan's Purse where donations of items are collected to fill shoeboxes with a message included about the Gospel. They are distributed to children who are victims of war, poverty, natural disasters, disease and famine with the purpose of sharing God's love through his son, Jesus Christ.Many times we wonder what effects our small donations make. Just read the book, "Operation Christmas Child" by Franklin Graham. Some of the stories make you cry and leave you in no doubt that miracles still do happen.In 1999, a shoebox delivery was made to a battered school with no windows in Kosovo by Graham and his team. It was a bone-chilling day, and the children shivered. One little boy in a classroom had no coat, no sweater. He was quivering and his lips were blue. He lifted the lid of his box. On top was a T-shirt. Below it lay a fleece-lined leather bomber jacket. It was a perfect fit!"Every class in the little school had been given shoeboxes that day, but in this one room, the only boy without a coat was given a box with a coat. Why wasn't that box given to the boy next to him who had a jacket? We don't know what's in these boxes. There is no way we can orchestrate something like this. But God can," said Graham, who witnessed it. He believes a family had been touched by God to put a leather jacket in a shoebox. For a little boy in Kosovo.How else can you account for the story of a young Bosnian widow with nothing, lying in a hospital, having just given birth to twins ... a boy and a girl. A member of the OCC team looked at a pile of shoeboxes on a gurney. She prayed to God to help her pick a box that would help the young mother. Inside were two complete crocheted layettes ... sweaters, caps, booties, blankets and sleepers ... one in pink and one in blue. Consider the odds of something like that.Something as little as a shoebox or a piece of candy can have a big impact that can change a life forever.Kindness ... let's keep passing it forward.