Let Love Overflow In Your Life: Act of Kindness

“A kind deed brightens a dark world!”

I had the pleasure of visiting family in Indiana this past weekend! My Uncle, Aunt and cousins live near Lake Michigan so my family and I enjoyed a pretty Saturday afternoon at the beach! It was also my 9 week old cousin Hunterlynn’s first time to the beach! I am praising the Lord that she is healthy and home after two weeks in the hospital with meningitis! She is just so adorable!!

I once again thought a head of time about a new intentional act of kindness that I could carry out in the coming weekend. I will admit that I have been out of town quite a bit this summer, and it is getting harder to think of new ways to show kindness while out of town…but a little challenge did not stop me!

*The act of kindness this week…show kindness to a stranger by leaving an uplifting note in the Bible in a hotel room as you check out and leave a hotel!!

If you ever wondered who placed the Holy Bible in a hotel room, your answer is: The Gideons International! Hotels are one of the key locations where The Gideons International place God’s word. Below is some information about The Gideons International that I found on their website (www.gideons.org):

1) “The Gideons International, founded in 1899, serves as an extended missionary arm of the church and is the oldest association of Christian businessmen and professional men in the United States of America.”

2) “Effective Witnesses in Hotels—In view of the fact that almost all of the Gideons in the early years of the association were traveling men, the question quite naturally arose regarding how they might be more effective witnesses in the hotels where they spent so much of their time. One trustee went so far as to suggest that The Gideons furnish a Bible for each bedroom of the hotels in the United States. He commented, “In my opinion, this would not only stimulate the activities of the rank and file of the membership, but would be a gracious act, wholly in keeping with the divine mission of the Gideon Association.” This plan, which they called “The Bible Project” was adopted at Louisville, Kentucky, in 1908.”

3) “Having God's Word can and does lead people to faith in Christ, and those new Christians then grow by studying their Scriptures and even use them to share their faith with others. For this reason, we focus on distributing complete Bibles, New Testaments, or portions thereof. These copies of God's Word are printed in more than 90 languages and are either given directly to certain individuals or placed in selected public locations where large numbers of people, who may be searching for answers, will have the ability to encounter the Word of God.”

4) “A Worldwide Effort—It's been just over 100 years since The Gideons International placed the first Bible in a hotel room in Montana. Today, Gideons are organized in more than 190 countries around the globe. Bibles and New Testaments are printed for distribution by The Gideons International in more than 90 languages. Through God's grace and to His Glory, more than 1.9 billion Bibles and New Testaments have been placed through our association, and the work continues.”

*My experience with the act of kindness… I stayed at a hotel this past weekend with my parents and on the way out the door to check out and leave; we left a note in the front of the Bible for whoever opened it next. The note read, “May God’s word guide you with His comfort, peace and direction!...2 Corinthians 1:3-5”. I also added another blank piece of paper in the Bible marking where the Bible verse was. 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 talks about God being the source of our comfort through all our troubles!

After doing some research online, I am aware that some people leave negative and mean notes in the Bibles in hotel rooms. I am also aware that a lot people who stay in a hotel probably do not look at the Bible in the room. While reading through several posts though, I also found the following comment from a hotel manager that was very encouraging to me, “People expect to find the bible in the nightstand. Often, if there isn’t one, even the least religious of people notice and call for a replacement. I’ve even had people call the desk at 2 AM saying, “I didn’t think it would bother me, but can you send up a bible? I can’t sleep.”

This intentional act of kindness takes very little time and effort on your part and is once again left for a stranger to find. You will never know who opened the Bible next and found your note. You will also never know what the person was going through at that time and the possible impact it had on their life! How about praying for whoever finds the note too! Let’s continue to intentionally show kindness and God’s love to strangers and the people around us in our everyday life in small and simple ways that could bring big and life changing results!!