Led by kindness into deeper opportunities

Day 3 of Intentional Living focused on random acts of kindness...the best way to show kindness, in my opinion. Although we rarely ever sit at the counter, we did so today at Bob Evans. When an elderly woman sat down next to me, my husband and I began talking with her and learned she was a widow and lived a very lonely life. I am so glad we were there for her in that moment. Next we headed over to Verizon to consummate a sale we had been working with for several weeks. We specifically asked for the salesperson that had taken the time to come to our business and buy products from us. He was thoroughly shocked that he was landing such a big order, and it thrilled us to see how happy he felt. I inquired about his "Armor of God" program and he went into great detail about the at-risk kids he works with by trying to take them to major cities, get them internships with local businesses, and fund-raise through acts of kindness (washing cars or painting homes of elderly, for instance). We volunteered immediately to host interns, but then I asked him if he also needed mentors and coaches for the kids, and that opened the door for offering to teach the kids about JMT and leadership. He literally could not hide his astonishment and good fortune, and we felt like heroes. But the day didn't end there either! When we got back in the car, we called up all our grown kids and asked them over for dinner and football (does anybody watch any team besides the Gators?). Anyway, our daughter replied that her son enthusiastically screamed yes and that made us feel really special. I find that kindness is nearly always free, and the more you give it away the wider the blessings ripple.