No Gift Too Small

"No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted." - Aesop

It's true.
We all know it.
But somehow we all forget to actually practice it.

Today I began my challenge - and first, a word or two on that:
the JIML Project requires me to do three acts of kindness during the semester ... but that seems kind of limiting. And not much to blog about.
So I have decided to make a point to pray earnestly every night before I go to sleep for God to give me the eyes to see and feel His impressions to guide me to opportunities to spread His kindness.
How many days is that? Exactly 106, the remaining days of this semester.
That is a whopping 106 opportunities (if God so chooses) for me to spread Jesus' compassion and love for each of us.

Thus, last night I prayed that prayer, asking God to open my eyes to see people as He would see them, and give me the opportunity to show them kindness. (By the way, when these opportunities present themselves, you will have the choice to say no - you will see what you could do and have a choice, thus making it a growing experience).

I went expectantly through my morning of classes: PR Principles and Theory, nothing. Writing for the Media, nothing. Life and Teachings of Jesus, nothing.
I was beginning to get discouraged (how quickly we lose faith!). I made my way through the Student Center to go downstairs to the cafeteria, when THERE IT WAS, my first opportunity.
As I opened the door to the stairwell, there before me was an old man with a cane walking slowly up the stairs that I was about to descend. As all this played out, I had the time to think to myself "do I want to help him?" and of course, I did. So guess what? I held the door for him.
Monumental, I know - ha!
But he gave me the biggest smile, and said "God bless you".
I wanted to leap down the stairs with happiness.
And I did.
And I almost took out someone with my bag.
Oops.

But what I discovered is that it is SO SIMPLE. We allow ourselves to be blinded into the state of complacency - we stop trying to be servants as Jesus did. We allow ourselves to forget. As I was standing there at the top of the stairs, it's as if time slowed down, and I had time to say yes or no to this opportunity - I could have whisked by the old man and hoped he could get the door open by himself, and I might have done just that if I hadn't asked God to show me what I could do.

My dear readers ... if you indeed exist ... do not allow yourself to "schlep along" through life. If you want to be a servant of Christ, make yourself a servant of your fellow man.
Matthew 25:40 reminds us: "(Jesus speaking) ... whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was Me - you did it to me."

And then, after I parked my car from going to Sonic (Yummmmm), I saw two precious little wrens. They were hopping around under a bush, as if they were asking me for help.
And my second impression came.
I pulled out my small order of tater tots (Side Note: Mom, I know you are horrified at this moment. I know that I should never put that much fat into my body on a weekday. But it was an incredibly stressful and looooooooooooooooooooooooong day, and as I was ordering my usual Route 44 diet Dr. Pepper with cherry and vanilla, the words "small order of tater tots" just exploded out of my mouth. But what I am about to say, you will be happy to hear.)

...as I was saying, I pulled out my tater tots from my purse, and I threw one on the ground by the bush where the birds were. They hopped over to that thing so fast it was amazing!
And then, I decided to dump the entire contents of that small tater tot container out for them.

I hope they chirped to their friends to help them, because there were at least 10 tots. That's a lot for two birds.
Maybe they were overwhelmed at God's provision and generosity for them, and initiated an "Aves Thanksgiving" of some sort. (Aves means birds).

And so, day one has come to a close. I know that athiests or agnostics would try to tell me that it was just my own conscience or set of morals.
But I know that I am a sinful and selfish human being who naturally wants to focus on myself.
And I know that I could not do one single act of kindness without God's love in my life.

Sleep well, my readers (I really hope you exist) and stay tuned for tomorrow's update :-)