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During our last class session, while I was watching the video on random acts of kindness, it reminded me that performing random acts of kindness, is something that I need to incorporate more into my life on a regular basis. I actually had a warm and fuzzy feeling inside knowing that many people have done so many kind things to me. I too have done many kind things to others; but, I had still not decided to incorporate this small thing into my life. I immediately realized that life is about being a blessing to others; however, there are times when people need to see tangible things done for them.
When we give things that are tangible, it is one way to help others see Christ in us. I found out that there are many ways to show random acts of kindness. I had the opportunity to put this concept into action in several ways since our last class. There are four examples of how I performed small acts of kindness for others. First, I went to visit a friend and here family from Alabama in Marco Island over the weekend. I took a watermelon with me and gave the watermelon to her family while I was visiting for Memorial Day weekend.
When I walked in the house with the watermelon, I noticed that they had a watermelon that they purchased sitting on the floor. It was clear that they were saving it for the actual Memorial Day cookout, which was still a few days away. The watermelon that I gave them, allowed them to cut the watermelon right then, and allow everyone to have a treat before the actual Memorial Day event was even there. I noticed that the children were excited to eat watermelon at that very moment. I could see their eyes light up, as the watermelon juice was everywhere.
Imagine that, they did not have to suppress their desire to have something they really wanted. It was a great experience to see someone have more than they needed. My second random act of kindness was towards the same family. I noticed that they wife told the children to clean up the kitchen after breakfast. Of course, the children did not clean up the kitchen. They went to play video games. There were dirty dishes, and dirty pots and pans everywhere. The mom went to lay down in the bed. The husband was sitting around playing video games, and I decided that even though I was a guest, I would go and clean up the kitchen.
By the time anyone realized what I was doing, I was almost done. The husband came into the kitchen, and said, “I thought I told the kids to clean up the kitchen. ” I told him not to worry about it. It was finished. He was very grateful to see that I had done this simple random act of kindness that did not cost me a dime. It was a great feeling to see that I was able to put a smile on the face of someone else, just by doing something that they did not want to do themselves. My third random act of kindness was another opportunity to make someone smile.
This time it was my boss. He had been treating me to lunch as a part of field training. I am sure that he will be reimbursed by the company for every penny he spent on the lunches. I wanted to do something special for him, so I gave him a movie pass that I had purchased a few days earlier for a guest that came in town that had to leave suddenly. I had actually purchased 3 movie tickets, and did not know what I was going to do with the extra ticket once our guest had to leave town. I gave him the ticket during our lunch, and told him to enjoy a movie on me. He was so happy.
He was elated. I know that he could afford his own ticket; but, I felt like he was shocked to see that someone actually gave him something. It felt really good to be the source of joy, for another one of God’s children, based on the holy spirit identifying the people that he wanted me to be a blessing to. It was such a great feeling, I was excited to know that I could do something to make someone else smile, and feel joy. My fourth random act of kindness was towards a friend. I had been assigned to work with him this week, and I was starved, I needed to go to lunch.
He suggested that we go out to eat somewhere cheap. I had not eaten all day, and felt him stalling to pick a place to go eat. I did not really know the area, so I was really putting the pressure on for him to make a decision. We finally found a place to eat based on his recommendation. I was ready to eat a full dinner because it would be a while before I ate again. As we walked inside, we got in the line, and he got in the line behind me. I could tell that he was concerned about the prices of the items on the menu.
I did not say a word. We placed our order, and when the cashier was ready to ring up our orders, I said, “Add his items to my bill”. He was grateful that I was paying for his food. I was glad that I was in a position to do it. That one small thing made a big difference to someone else. I felt full of the spirit to know that I could be a blessing to one of God’s people. Acts of kindness towards others shows others that we care. We are being obedient to God’s word because we demonstrate love when we perform random acts of kindness.
Any one can do such a small thing, and have a big impact on the life of someone else. I realized that we never know what someone is going through. When we perform random acts of kindness, it instills hope, inspiration, love and joy to the person that is receiving the random act of kindness from us. This was a great exercise that reminded me of why I am striving to be like Christ. I am grateful that I was a part of this assignment, and I am excited about being aware of performing random acts of kindness when the opportunity presents itself.