Sometimes God takes us through a learning process. I believe He uses us to teach us a lesson or to teach others a lesson. I remember learning about compassion and what it meant. The lesson I learned changed my life, and I was never the same.

I grew up in The Big Easy, another moniker for New Orleans. I was around 8 or 9 years old. The time was the mid-50s in mid-June in New Orleans, a city known for hot, sultry summers with brutal humidity. I was used to the stifling summer temperatures, which seld...