SPRINKLES OF KINDNESS

The box arrived right before Christmas.  It was innocent enough - a large moving box with nothing on it but a simple note to say it was for my family.  We don't know when it was delivered or who left it, but it was just there...sitting on our doorstep pleading with us to open it.

My parents brought it into the kitchen, and I {Ginny} stood nearby as they opened it.  My young eyes grew huge as I saw what was inside - toys! games! stuffed animals!  I excitedly dove in and made discovery after discovery of brand new things to play with. 

We never did find out who sent that box, but whoever did made a forever impact on me that day.  That was my first experience with a sprinkle of kindness.  Someone had gone out of their way to make my family's Christmas special.  They spent money and time to love my family, and what they may not realize is that that one small act inspired me to continue on the tradition of anonymously sprinkling kindness over the lives of others.

My husband was raised by amazing parents who taught him to be giving and generous to others.  As a result, he too, has a heart for helping others.  We absolutely love making the day of someone else.  And we love doing it anonymously.  Although it is hard sometimes because we never get to see the smiles or see the reactions as they receive the gift, there is something exciting about knowing that we made someone else's day a bit brighter without needing a thank you.

Lately, I have spent some serious time studying The Sermon on the Mount.  A couple of verses that really inspired me to write this post today are found in Matthew 6:3-4 "When you give to the needy, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.  Then your giving will be done secretly.  Your Father will reward you.  He sees what you do secretly." 

Friends, today, I would like to encourage you to make the day of someone else a bit more special and to do it anonymously.  Do you know someone who is having a rough day, week, or year?  Is there someone around you in need, and you can help do something small to lift that need, if even for a day?

Here are some things to inspire you that you might be able to do today:

* As you go through the drive through of Starbucks, ask to pay for the person behind you.  Tell the cashier to tell them that you just wanted to bless them with God's love.

* Send a gift card in the mail (of any amount) to someone to brighten their day.  Maybe it is a practical gift card or something just for fun.

* Leave freshly picked flowers (or ones from a store) on a car in a parking lot - especially think about leaving them on the new mom parking spots!

* Have your children make cards of encouragement (or drawings) and leave them in the front doors of homes of those you know need it.

* For a date night, take the money you would have spent on dinner out and a movie and give it to a person in need.  Every year, we do this with our Valentine's Day meal.  We take that money, give it to a family that God put on our hearts, and instead of going to a pricey place for dinner, we go to a fast-food restaurant and enjoy a meal for under 10 dollars!

I would love to hear stories of how others have blessed you with anonymous gifts of kindness.  Or perhaps, they weren't anonymous, but unexpected, and they made an impact on you.  Share your story in the comments below, and you may inspire others to do the same for someone else.  Let's sprinkle the world with kin dness.  You never know which person or child will be impacted to continue the tradition like I was with the simple box left on my family's doorstep.
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Blessings,

Ginny

Update:  Within hours of me posting this blog, the craziest thing happened! Here's the story: Katie's special needs preschool is in an office building and every day, after I pick up Katie, the girls dash down the hallway to visit their friend Carmen, who works in an office down the hall. They always ask her to snap her fingers for them and she does it every single day with a smile. She wrote on her Facebook page about how much joy their daily visits bring her. One of her friends who works for the Cultural Trust in Pittsburgh saw her post. The woman called her and told her that she wanted to give the special little girls free tickets to the autism-friendly performance of The Lion King. She then blew Carmen away by telling her that she wanted to also include tickets for all of the families of the children who went to Katie's preschool. I had no idea when God inspired me to write this blog this morning, that I would be on the receiving end of one of those sprinkles of kindness I just written about!

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