Weekend Kindness
Reaching Others Through Kindness

So, a funny thing happened on the way back from my brother’s wedding. I was driving along after a fierce thunderstorm when I came upon a toll booth. It was one where you insert change into a bucket or use a coin changer. The car in front of me opens the door to pay with cash and I see something fall out of it. I thought it was a flip flop.

As I advance into the toll booth, I open the door, and sure enough it was the man’s wallet. What do I do?!

I hand the wallet back to my wife and take off after the guy. (Fortunately he was going the same way I was!) We lose him around a corner, but I’m pretty sure that I recognize his car up ahead. I catch up and go to pass him and my wife compares the picture on his license to the guy in the car. We roll down the window, beep the horn, and get him to pull over.

I get out, return the wallet, and am on my way.

What would you have done?

One day in the store I noticed that you can buy all kinds of post-it notes.  One set of post-it notes was pink and in the shape of a heart.  That gave me an idea.  I picked up a pack, and hid them for future use.

The next time that my wife was away, I wrote messages on the hearts and hid them in various locations throughout the house.  Some easy to find, some not so easy.  That way, when she came home, and for days after that, as she found the notes she could be reminded of the fact that I was thinking of her.

Has she found them all?  Not yet.  I believe there’s still one that she hasn’t found!

You can try this at home, and you don’t even need sticky notes– even a piece of paper and scotch tape will do!

Actions speak louder than words goes the familiar expression. One of the problems with our lifestyles today is that we have many more things wanting our attention and time than in the past. So, there are things that we say we will do with all intentions of doing them, but it takes a long time to get to them– or we forget totally.

So, one way to show kindness this week is to choose and complete a project that you?ve been putting off, something that someone else will appreciate (like sewing a button on, or mending jeans?etc). By doing this you’ll be showing that person that they are important, and you’ll be getting to fulfill your promise to them all at the same time!

One of the most popular posts read on MInTheGap has to do with the question “What to say when someone dies“. I believe that this is because this is one of the most difficult times in anyone’s life, facing the loss of a loved one.

I was once seated on an airplane on the way back from college next to someone that was on their way home for a funeral. It was difficult for me to be of comfort because I believe that if someone dies without accepting Jesus Christ as Savior then the person is destined for eternal separation from God.

Regardless, it was difficult to know what to say because the loss to this woman was very real. The same loss that I felt (if different in quantity) when I lost my grandfather last year. You miss the person, what they did, who they were and there’s a hole that is not easily filled.

This past weekend, our neighbors lost their oldest male patriarch. It started with the ambulance and fire truck whizzing by (someone must have called 911). It was too late– we later found out that the man had died in his son’s arms.

We could have pretended not to see what had happened. But, spurned on by the sermon about being a Good Samaritan, and looking for ways to minister, my wife has offered and will be making a meal for them.

How about you? Do you have someone that you know that has recently lost a loved one? How about a widow or widower? Someone that may be missing someone in their lives within the past year?

Why not be a source of encouragement this week and send them a card, offer to make them a meal, schedule some time to sit down and talk, say a little prayer for them, or all of the above. We need to be there for those that lose loved ones– we need to give the comfort that we have received in our time of loss.

So, last night an Evangelist gave us a challenge for the week– which reminded me of Weekend Kindness. It was based on the Biblical account of the Good Samaritan and takes off after the challenge to “Go and do thou likewise.”

1. Locate someone that you do not know.
2. Someone that has a need– either spiritual, physical or otherwise.
3. Meet that need
4. Accept nothing in return.
5. Share your faith.

Interested in taking up the challenge?

Pretty straightforward mission: Write about something kind you did at the Thanksgiving Table.

Come on, anyone can do this one!

Look who’s participating in this week’s mission:

Shelli at Shelli’s Place
Mary at Home-Steeped Hope
MInTheGap

If you haven’t done one yet, hurry up! The deadline is Wednesday when we announce the next mission!

View Weekend Kindness Entries as they Appear!