I'm in the process of reading an incredible (well, I'm only on page 18 but so far it's incredible!) book called "Love As A Way Of Life" by Gary Chapman - he's the guy that wrote on the Five Love Languages. I came across a paragraph that I want to share with all of you. Take it to heart and see what "small things" you could do to brighten some one's day. From
now until Christmas Day I will take comments under this post telling about something you have done for someone else
after reading this (of course things you did yesterday and last week count, but not for this challenge - you'll just have to do something else!). I will then put every one's name in a stocking and pick one. The lucky winner will win a copy of this very book! I hope all will be blessed by what they do as well as what they read from others. Here is the excerpt:"Is buying a homeless person a bowl of soup or taking your daughter to the park or driving a coworker to the mechanic when his car breaks down really going to make a difference in the world? The answer is an overwhelming yes. We might have loftier ideas of what it means to love, such as making a grand sacrifice of time or money or even giving up our lives, but why should we be willing to die for someone when we won't even fill up the gas tank for her? Every trait of authentic love begins with small things."
Good luck and have fun!
Feel free to pass this link to your friends. I'd love to see lots of people loving others in small ways!
7 comments:
Very cool Jenn! I love this idea.
It's so true too, the little things really can and do brighten others days...and I find, my own day too! I'll be keeping this in mind as I go through the next few weeks. Thanks for sharing!!
Okay, I'll go first. At Martin's I was walking through the parking lot to the entrance and noticed an elderly woman finishing up with putting her groceries into her trunk. I asked her if she was finished with her cart since I was going into the store anyway, and took it from her so she didn't have to walk it back in the cold.
Just something little....
I told a group of friends today how much their friendship meant to me and gave them each concrete examples...
I called my mom to cheer her up with a funny memory from my childhood that I know would make her smile...
I emailed a teacher to tell them how I admired what they had done with their group of kids!
I laughed at your later post asking people why they hadn't responded yet! I actually was going to write something immediately after reading this post, the only problem is that I hadn't actually done it...it was just in the plans to do (and I didn't want to lie on your blog and say I'd actually done it). Today we got little cookies baskets ready for the guys who do our trash every week. They come on Tuesday mornings and so tomorrow we will be eagerly looking out our windows to see when they come, and once they do, we will race out and hand them baskets of cookies with a note attached that says "We appreciate your hard work for our neighborhood and community. Thank you!!!" We did a similar thing several months back by baking muffins for them, and they were totally surprised. I bet very few people ever thank them for the incredible work they do in taking away all our garbage! After living overseas much of my life, I don't take that for granted. There are so many places where garbage piles up and people live around it. I also use this opportunity to talk to my kids about how important it is to respect everyone, even garbage workers!
I love photos and was given a free 8x10. While trying to pick one for myself, I found a cute picture of my nephews and decided to get that one in an 8x10 framed for my sister-in-law who is extremely busy. Nothing huge but I hope she likes it and is surprised.
At the salon where I get my nails done, the manicurist is a single young mom with two children. She lives above the salon and her 8 year old daughter stays at the salon with her while she works. Destiny is the cutest little girl that I know. Since they do not have much, I have taken it upon myself to see that Destiny and her family will have a nice Christmas. Doing the Santa Claus with the other women at the shop on Christmas Eve for the family!
I went for another mamogram today and while I was there a woman was crying softly as she sat waiting for her results. I asked her if everything was ok and she said that she was an 8 year breast cancer survivor and they had found something on her film today. She was waiting and was worried. I jumped up and went and gave her a hug and sat and talked with her until she was called in. I waited for her until she was finished and walked out with her, prayed with her and gave her a big hug. I was so happy I could be there for her today and she didn't have to be alone while she waited. I have been praying for her all day today.
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