“In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” Acts 20:35

A few months ago I was driving through my hometown and decided to swing by my mom’s house to drop off a few groceries she needed me to pick up for her while she was at work. I wasn’t there for more than five minutes when the doorbell rang. I normally wouldn’t have answered the door but because I was only going to be there a couple minutes I decided to leave the front door open revealing evidence that someone was there. So I proceeded to answer and met a young high school graduate who was going door to door selling magazine subscriptions. Normally, my natural response would have been that I am not interested (no questions asked), especially provided that it wasn’t even my house. But instead, I responded with some questions.

She proceeded to tell me that she was selling these subscriptions to raise money for a mission trip she was planning to go on. I asked her how her sales were going and she said, ‘Not very well. Most people are either not home or not answering their door.’ I understood completely how she may have been feeling and yet, her energy was contagious, her attitude positive and her passion exuding through her beautiful smile. So I decided to invite her inside and ask her a few more questions. Deep down I was telling myself, I have no desire to invest in a magazine subscription. I hadn’t bought a magazine in over 10 years. But, I knew I wanted to help her out. I asked her how much the subscriptions were and if I could just make a one time donation in the amount of the subscription to go towards her trip (without the magazines). She said yes but then told me if I ‘donate’ my subscription she gets more credit towards her trip. Then I asked her who I could donate the subscription to and she said anyone… or, I could donate to the Children’s Hospital and that gives her the most credit towards her trip. Obviously a no-brainer for me, that’s exactly what I wanted to do. She told me what the most popular children’s magazine subscription was and I wrote her the check. This young teenager had such a great spirit about her and it felt great to help her out.

Please don’t take this the wrong way though, this wasn’t about me at all. I just happened to be exactly where God needed me to be to help this young lady out; this was all about Brittany. I was so impressed with her courage, her passion, her love for people, her attitude, her commitment and her perseverance – she was raising money to go out and serve people. If that isn’t an act of kindness and doing God’s work, I don’t know what else is.

Kindness doesn’t involve much; it just requires a loving heart. Many people think that it takes money to ‘do good’ for others. While money does help, it isn’t a requirement. Offering a listening ear to a lonely person, sharing a smile as someone passes by, offering to give someone a ride home who doesn’t have transportation or displaying a positive attitude in a stressful situation are all simple ways we can show kindness on a daily basis. Displaying a service before self disposition is one of the noblest ways to live and will surely create a ripple effect you never thought possible.

I learned this principle by observing the actions of men and women like Orrin and Laurie Woodward and George and Jill Guzzardo and spending time around the LIFE leadership community. In fact, I don’t know of any other organization on the planet that shows more kindness or a service before self attitude. That being said, let’s create a kindness revolution and live to serve others just as God lives to serve us.

“As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good.” 2 Thessalonians 3:13

Love,

Kristen