And though I am currently in the process of a very extensive blog about the topics and questions that have been taking up rent in my mind lately, I wanted to take a break from it and write a less intimate/serious diddy.
My friend Leah has a whole blog dedicated to kindness and it has really been encouraging me a lot lately. She is such a sweet girl and God has really given her such a pure heart!
Instead of “Random acts of kindness” I always have thought of them more as “Kisses from God”.
These are the things that happen that are so unexpected and bring a smile to your face. It may be something random that a stranger does or something that a close friend does to show you that they are there for you: Anything that brings a smile to your face and reminds you that you are loved and valued as a person.
I wonder if it was decided before hand that today would be my day to receive kisses from God =)
Kiss from God number 1:
This morning I went to Starbucks to get coffee for some of my co-workers and I. I felt super bad because the piece of paper that all of our drinks were on, ended up getting lost in my Mary Poppins of a bag purse! So of course I was taking forever (this really has nothing to do with my story). So I pull up to the drive thru window and I felt so bad for the guy working there because I had finally found the paper and had to order it all at the window. Finally when I was done, the guy working let me know that the gentleman in front of me paid for part of my order! I was so surprised! What a kind thing to do!
Side note: Later my friend asked me if I paid for the person’s order behind me and regretfully, I said no…but next time, I think that would be a good idea…(Thank you Kristen!)
Kiss from God number 2:
My car died. Again. It does that a lot. Apparently it likes to be “pampered” every once in awhile, as my father puts it... Which is fine…if it didn’t cost me so much. Maybe if I start washing it more it won’t feel like it has to break down to get my attention? Anywho – so like I was saying – My car died. I was in the parking lot of my apartment and I had to pull into someone else’s parking spot. I have mistakenly parked in this person’s spot before…and I am not sure if they are very friendly because they left a note on my car telling me to not do it again…anywho – so my friend’s Josh and Jess totally helped me push my car out of that spot and back into mine (which by the way helped me see just how strong I really am not…)
Kiss from God number 3:
Then Jess offered for me to drive her car to work tomorrow! Well actually…I think Josh offered Jess’s car, apparently “What’s his is his and what’s hers is his” as Josh put it…(Jess agreed).
But seriously – I am so blessed.
(My car broke down a few months ago and my friend Beca let me borrow her car for a few days too!)
God has really blessed me – whether it be random people who put a smile on my face, or good friends who go above and beyond to be there for me.
A few weeks ago my friends Kristyna and Chris and I went to the movies and the theater was pretty full. An older lady walked in by herself and I jokingly told Chris that his mom was here and she can sit by us if he wanted…a joke to which he gave what I’m pretty sure was a pity laugh…The lady stayed at the bottom of the theater and anxiously looked for a place to sit, when some moments later her husband joined her. There were no two seats by each other in the theater so they separated to sit by themselves (the lady actually did end up sitting by Chris, which I am sure he was very excited about later because she hated the movie we were watching and kept talking through it…)
How sad would that be to go to a movie with someone and then not even get to sit by them?! So, our row of people moved down a seat so they could sit together.
The lady was so surprised that we had moved down, she even went so far as to say “There is hope in the world”. Half of the theater clapped for us because we moved down… They CLAPPED…all because we moved down ONE seat.
That was such a simple thing we did. And for some reason this lady took it to be a sign as there being “hope” in the world still. It made me wonder if she ever had kind things happen for her…(which then made me want to hear her life story of course…)
The point is – you never know who is around you, and you never know how big of a difference the littlest thing can make…
Today really was a reminder that even though life has its rough spots, there is still SO much beauty in the world!!!
And it really has me thinking…what can I do to put a smile on someone else’s face?
P.S. You should really check out Leah’s blog on Kindness: http://thelatesttrend.tumblr.com/
AAAAAAAAnd most likely a more serious of a blog to come tomorrow......
