Act of Kindness – Week #22!!

"Thanksgiving after all, is a word of action!"

Happy Thanksgiving week! The intentional act of kindness this week goes along with the Thanksgiving holiday, of course, but I encourage you continue it even after Thanksgiving!

Have you heard the phrase, “better late than never”?! Well that describes me right now…this week I wrote out “thank you” notes for my October 18^th birthday. The notes did not just include thanks to the individual for the presents I received from them but also thanks to God for the blessing of having them in my life as well! Yes, those notes are five weeks late so I currently really like the phrase, “better late than never”! Have the recipients of these notes noticed that I have not written them one yet? Probably not…but the point is that I truly believe there is power/kindness when people take the time and effort to go out of their way to say “thank you”.

  

*The act of kindness this week...show kindness by continuously going out of your way to express thanks to the people around you or to someone who you have not talked to in a while so that you can live a life of thanksgiving!!

*My experience with the act of kindness… I am not going to share my specific experiences with this because it could possibly be one of you reading this blog post. Instead, I am going to take this wonderful opportunity to share something even greater than continuously thanking other people, which is continuously thanking God! I included parts of two devotions from “She Reads Truth” below that communicates giving thanks to God in sorrow and plenty!

Give Thanks In Sorrow

Text: Psalm 31:1-24, Psalm 34:18, Psalm 56:8

“If your heart is broken, you’ll find God right there; if you’re kicked in the gut, he’ll help you catch your breath.” - Psalm 34:18, The Message

Sometimes, I feel like God is asking me to put a mute on my feelings. When His Word says to be thankful in every situation, I find myself thinking, Even in this? In grief, in fear, in sorrow? You can’t possibly mean in this….God doesn’t ask us to silence our sorrow in favor of thanksgiving. Rather, He uses our sorrow to proclaim a type of thanksgiving we wouldn’t be able to express otherwise….Thanksgiving doesn’t devour your sorrow, but it acknowledges the Glory that will. The thanks be to Him who says our sorrows will be worth it. The giving of our souls to say that, even if our earthly hopes have been deferred, our eternal hope will never be lost. When you think you’ll never again be able to sing a song of thanksgiving, try it anyway. Our hearts may not be comfortable praising tragedy, loss, or bad days, but our hearts were created to praise the Hope of Glory.

  

Give Thanks In Plenty

Text: Psalm 23:1-6, Psalm 105:1-5, 1 Chronicles 29:10-13

You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. - Psalm 25:5a

It seems so simple—give thanks in plenty. That’s what those cornucopia centerpieces are all about, right? We’ve been talking for a week about sorrow and injustice and stress and suffering. “Plenty” we can handle…Literal plenty makes a whole lot of sense to me—to all of us. We know it when we see it. We slap a “hashtag blessed” on the gifts we’ve been given, knowing full well Who that Giver is. But I just can’t imagine that’s where we ought to land today. I don’t think that’s it. Friends, plenty is oh-so-much-more than moments and mail and meatloaf. “Plenty” does not equal prosperity, just as “want” does not equal poverty. Our circumstances are not situated on a sliding scale from famine to abundance, and we would be sorely mistaken to allow our “thanks” to take a ride on that hypothetical scale. For the believer, plenty and want are both constant states of being. Yes, we all have real, felt needs. And we have noticeable, tangible blessings. But beyond the surface—in light of eternity—our constant state is a want of grace, and God is our constant and plentiful supplier. HE is our plenty. Our overflowing cups have absolutely nothing to do with bank accounts or people or horn-shaped centerpieces. They do not overflow with success and they do not empty with failure. Our cups overflow with the grace and mercy of an Everlasting God—they overflow because there is always more than we can ask or imagine. THIS is our plenty. Wherever we find ourselves on the worldly poverty-to-prosperity scale, let us see ourselves in constant want of His grace and ever in possession of an overflowing cup of mercy from an all-sufficient God. And let us give thanks.

One thing that I have been so grateful for this past month is the encouragement, insight, advice and wisdom from others on not just being thankful in the month of November but living a life of thanksgiving! Thanksgiving should not just be a one day event to express your thanks and gratitude. Thanksgiving needs to be a condition of the heart! Let us strive from here on out to live a LIFE of thanksgiving!

  

Please comment below with your own experience with this act of kindness! I would really enjoy hearing about it!!

Act of Kindness – Week #21!!

“Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.” James Matthew Barrie

  “I’m so hungry I could eat…a whole elephant!” My siblings and I grew up watching 101 Dalmatians and using this line to our parents in a joking way! I am so grateful that there has not been a day in my past 27 years of life that I was truly “so hungry”. Thanksgiving is right around the corner where the normal is to have a huge meal (or two) with your family. We all know that we have plenty to eat every single day. I have to be honest also that I cringe now when I hear someone say, “I am starving”. There truly are hungry people in our world and even right around us. Being aware of this fact should make us think before we speak about our hunger, and I hope it also encourages us to do something to help those who are truly hungry!

*The act of kindness this week...show kindness by supporting a food drive to help feed the hungry!! 

  I still remember when I was a little girl going to my older brother Josh’s boy scout meetings since one of my parent’s was still at work or had something else scheduled so my sister and I were unable to stay home and had to tag along. I also remember going to Josh’s Pinewood Derby’s where he raced a little wood car that he and Dad made together! My brother did not become an Eagle Scout, but I personally know some boys in my church who are currently in boy scouts. I also attended an Eagle Scout ceremony last year for a friend at church!

  “The Boy Scouts of America is one of the nation's largest and most prominent values-based youth development organizations. The BSA provides a program for young people that builds character, trains them in the responsibilities of participating citizenship, and develops personal fitness. For over a century, the BSA has helped build the future leaders of this country by combining educational activities and lifelong values with fun. The Boy Scouts of America believes — and, through over a century of experience, knows — that helping youth is a key to building a more conscientious, responsible, and productive society.” www.scouting.org

*My experience with the act of kindness….There are several local food drives and ways to help feed the hungry in America and in other countries as well. “Scouting for Food” is the food drive that I would like to share with you today! November 15, 2014 marked the 30th year that Boy Scouts of America scouted for food! It is the largest single-day community food drive in the St. Louis area. On November 8, my husband and I received a plastic bag on our front door with the details of the food drive. We have received and participated in this food drive each year since living in our home! Some people probably go out and buy canned goods, but we like to clean out our pantry instead! We planned to use the canned goods, but we want to gladly share the food that we bought for ourselves also!

  Here is a little background on the food drive: “Scouting for Food is the largest one-day food drive in the St. Louis region. Started in 1985 by the Greater St. Louis Area Council, Scouting for Food has expanded to other councils across the country. More than 30,000 Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts and Venturers annually help the needy as they collect approximately 2 million cans of food during the Scouting for Food drive. The Greater St. Louis Area Council has collected more than 49 million cans of food during the 29-year history of the drive. Items collected serve approximately 500 pantries within the Greater St. Louis Area Council, which includes the St. Louis metropolitan area, southeastern Missouri, and southern Illinois. Scouts in the St. Louis area take donations to fire stations where Scout leaders sort and box the food. Sunset Transportation Inc. of Sunset Hills provides vehicles, equipment, volunteer drivers and solicit the assistance of additional volunteers from trucking companies. Sunset Transportation coordinates all logistics for the food collection, which involves transporting boxed food from more than 40 area fire stations to the St. Louis Area Food Bank. The Food Bank distributes the canned goods to more than 500 area food pantries throughout eastern Missouri and southwest Illinois.” http://stlbsa.org/activities/events/scouting-for-food/

  Here are the results of the food drive this year: “Thousands of Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts performed a good turn for the needy Saturday when they gathered 1,811,354 food items during the 30th annual Scouting For Food drive. After distributing over one million bags to residents last weekend, 30,000 Scouts, leaders, parents and volunteers returned today to collect the bags filled with canned and non-perishable food items. Food in the St. Louis area was taken to local fire stations, where donations were sorted and boxed. Sunset Transportation, Inc. of Sunset Hills provided vehicles, drivers and equipment to transport the boxed food to the St. Louis Area Foodbank. The Foodbank will distribute the canned and non-perishable food items through a network of more than 500 partner agencies In southeast Missouri and southern Illinois, Scouts take donations directly to local food pantries. Within 48 hours of the Scouts’ pick-up, the first donations are on food pantry shelves, ready to feed the hungry.“I am humbled each year by the generosity of our community,” said Ronald Green, Scout Executive/CEO of the Greater St. Louis Area Council. “The incredible amount of food donated today will provide many needy people with food for months to come. We are very thankful to all who donated to Scouting For Food.” http://stlbsa.org/blog/2014/11/15/scouting-food-collection-day-set-saturday/

  Scouting for Food gathered 1.8 million food items to help feed the hungry! Praise the Lord! This is one of those intentional acts of kindness where you might not be able to do a lot by yourself, but teamwork makes a huge difference…you just need to do your part!!

Please comment below with your own experience with this act of kindness! I would really enjoy hearing about it!!

Act of Kindness – Week #1-#20 Outline!!

   Six months and one day ago I wrote and published the “Act of Kindness – Week #1” blog! I am very thankful that God placed on my heart the desire to find new ways to intentionally show kindness and love to strangers and those around me and then blog about it to encourage you all to do the same! The past six months has been full of blessings but also some heartache as well. During the good times and the not so good times, I am continually humbled to have these acts of kindness to help me focus more on other people and not my current circumstances.

   This week, I would like to recap the first twenty acts of kindness to help remind us that we can make these part of our lives and not just a one-time thing. I have included the link to each blog as well in case you want to read the whole post!

  

April 29, 2014 – “I would like to start a new journey to intentionally spread love and show kindness once a week in a way that is not in my normal routine! I am not sure how long I will do this, but I do know that God has lead me to realize that showing His love through acts of kindness is what He wants me to do right now! These acts of kindness can be simple or complex, ordinary or unique, cost some money or be free and can be done to a loved one, friend or even to a stranger! Would you like to join me?! I hope the acts of kindness that I do each week are contagious and that other people will start carrying them out too! The goal is for me to blog at the beginning of each week a new act of kindness and my experience with doing it. I encourage you to then in the coming week also carry out the same act of kindness! You can also comment below each blog and share your own experiences with the acts of kindness. Lets make going out of our way to show love and kindness a habit each week! Lets make it intentional and not random! Lets make spreading love and showing kindness contagious…man, what would a world full of love and kindness be like?!!” http://letloveoverflow.blogspot.com/2014/04/let-love-overflowin-our-kindness-to_9733.html

1) The act of kindness this week…the next time you go grocery shopping, show kindness by starting and encouraging a meaningful conversation with the cashier the whole time you are there!! http://letloveoverflow.blogspot.com/2014/05/act-of-kindness-week-1.html

2) The act of kindness this week…show kindness by personally expressing gratitude to one of our everyday heroes (military, police, fire, emergency service workers etc)!! http://letloveoverflow.blogspot.com/2014/05/act-of-kindness-week-2.html

3) The act of kindness this week…show kindness by helping animals find their forever home which could bring countless years of happiness and love to the adopted animal and to someone else!! http://letloveoverflow.blogspot.com/2014/05/act-of-kindness-week-3.html

4) The act of kindness this week…show kindness by helping someone make memories that can last a lifetime (and possibly even longer through photos)!! http://letloveoverflow.blogspot.com/2014/06/act-of-kindness-week-4.html

5) The act of kindness this week…while paying for your food order at a restaurant’s drive thru, show kindness by paying for the person’s order in the vehicle behind you!! http://letloveoverflow.blogspot.com/2014/06/act-of-kindness-week-5.html

6) The act of kindness this week…show kindness by finding a food item that has been in your pantry for a while and use it to brighten a stranger’s day!! http://letloveoverflow.blogspot.com/2014/06/act-of-kindness-week-6.html

7) The act of kindness this week…show kindness by placing coupons around a store in front of the item the coupon is for so that the next customer looking for that item will find the coupon and use it!!  http://letloveoverflow.blogspot.com/2014/06/act-of-kindness-week-7.html 

8) The act of kindness this week…show kindness by sending a “thank you” in the mail to someone currently serving and protecting our country in the armed forces!! http://letloveoverflow.blogspot.com/2014/07/act-of-kindness-week-8.html

9) The act of kindness this week…show kindness by stopping what  you are doing, asking someone “how are you?” and then giving them your full attention as you listen to their response!! http://letloveoverflow.blogspot.com/2014/07/act-of-kindness-week-9.html

10) The act of kindness this week…show kindness by anonymously leaving encouraging notes in a public place for a stranger to find!! http://letloveoverflow.blogspot.com/2014/07/act-of-kindness-week-10.html

11) The act of kindness this week…show kindness to a server at a restaurant by putting your plates and trash etc. in one neat pile on the table after you finish eating!! http://letloveoverflow.blogspot.com/2014/08/act-of-kindness-week-11.html

12) 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!! http://letloveoverflow.blogspot.com/2014/08/act-of-kindness-week-12.html

13) The act of kindness…show kindness by helping a community during/after a devastating situation. If you live away: pray, intentionally find the helpers and share the good being done to uplift and encourage other people!!http://letloveoverflow.blogspot.com/2014/08/act-of-kindness-week-13_19.html

14) The act of kindness this week…show kindness to someone you know who has entered a new stage in life or is overwhelmed by communicating to them that you honestly want to be there for them and be specific in suggesting ways that you can help!! http://letloveoverflow.blogspot.com/2014/08/act-of-kindness-week-14.html

15) The act of kindness this week…show kindness by complimenting people and be specific on why you are giving the compliment!! http://letloveoverflow.blogspot.com/2014/09/act-of-kindness-week-15.html

16) The act of kindness this week...show kindness by finding an organization that you agree with their mission/work and then support them (financial support, volunteering your time, telling others about it and encouraging them to support it as well etc)!! http://letloveoverflow.blogspot.com/2014/09/act-of-kindness-week-16.html

17) The act of kindness this week…show kindness by writing a heartfelt handwritten note to someone that you know could use some encouragement!! http://letloveoverflow.blogspot.com/2014/09/act-of-kindness-week-17.html 

18) The act of kindness this week…show kindness by pushing a grocery chart inside to use during shopping inside of using a grocery chart that is already inside the store!! http://letloveoverflow.blogspot.com/2014/10/act-of-kindness-week-18.html

19) The act of kindness this week…show kindness by paying for a stranger’s meal at a restaurant!!http://letloveoverflow.blogspot.com/2014/10/act-of-kindness-week-19.html

20) The act of kindness this week...show kindness by being an intentional courteous driver!!http://letloveoverflow.blogspot.com/2014/10/act-of-kindness-week-20.html

October 23, 2014- “Let me add some side notes quickly and then bring it back to this current blog post!...When I first started thinking of and doing a new intentional act of kindness each week and then blogging about it to encourage other people to do the same, I got asked by several people how I came up with the idea or what lead me to starting this “Let Love Overflow” blog. There were many reasons (see the first two blog posts from April 2014 if you are interested) but one of the main reasons was because I was noticing more and more that it is so easy to be focused on only your day and your schedule and barely notice, if notice at all, the people who you come into contact with each day.” http://letloveoverflow.blogspot.com/2014/10/act-of-kindness-week-19.html

   My last thought this week…I am not looking for recognition or praise for the acts of kindness/blogging about it, but I strive to show God’s kindness and love through me to other people with a humble heart!

As always…please comment below with your own experiences with these acts of kindness! I would really enjoy hearing about it!!