A Lesson from 3, 4 & 5 Year-Olds

"Treat others the way you would want to be treated."
Luke 6:31

This weekend, I worked at the children's ministry for my part-time job at my church.  Each month, we learn about a different virtue and coincidentally this month's virtue is kindness.  Also, each month we practice a memory verse - this month's memory verse is seen above.  I always teach the large group lesson to the kids at each service, and this weekend we watched examples of kids being kind and talked about how we can be kind to others.

I was blown away after the large group lesson when I was going from room to room checking on the classes.  The kids were so excited to tell me what THEY were going to do to be kind to someone else.

"I'm going to help my mom cook dinner."
"I'm going to give my favorite toy to my brother to play with."
"I'm going to say something nice to my friend at school tomorrow."
"I'm going to help clean the house."

The list went on and on!  It sure warmed my heart :)

Today's Starfish

This weekend, I learned from 3, 4 and 5 year olds that it doesn't really matter WHAT you do to be kind, as long as you just do it.  I asked Sarah and Devon to each do a random act of kindness of their choosing today.

For my random act, I bought the person behind me their coffee at Starbucks over my lunch break.  On a rainy, dreary day like today, I hope I brought a little sunshine into their Monday!

Sarah is currently in Hawaii and her boyfriend is missing her!  So she sent him a picture of herself and told him not to worry because she loves him very much and no distance or time will change that ever.

And, Devon was at the grocery store today and saw an elderly lady loading her car with groceries.  She offered to return the woman's cart for her.  Devon said it may sound little, but a little can go a long way.  She hopes she restored a sense of generosity and hope to this woman.  Our generation is not as selfish and rude as our reputation makes us sound!

The Not-So-Typical Bachelorette Party

"A kind and compassionate act is often its own reward."
- William John Bennett

Last week, a story went viral about an Iowa couple who gave a server a $100 tip on a $66 bill.  The service was terrible - it took 20 minutes to get water, 40 minutes for their appetizer and over an hour for the entree.  The restaurant was under-staffed and the server remained calm and polite despite the circumstances and unhappy patrons.  

"I said to Steven, wow, this used to be us.  Waiting tables.  I don't miss it at all and I never loved that job.  I did it for the tips.  Steven and I agreed it would be good to make this guy's night when he would probably be getting minimal to no tips due to slow service," Schultz wrote.

I love it when something like this happens - it takes a life of its own and is all over the news and social media.  In a world full of bad news everyday, it is a breath of fresh air to see a random act of kindness like this make the headlines!

Today's Starfish

Devon and I were at an epic bachelorette party over the weekend in Vegas with a very down to earth group of girls.  We tried to break the stereotype of snotty bachelorette parties - we were kind to everybody and tipped well.  

The drink server at the pool was so appreciative of us - she said we made her whole day and thanked us for being so nice.  And she said we were just what she needed that day.

Glad we could make her day!  I am sure she comes across a lot of not so nice customers out in Vegas :)