Showing Love

Sometimes a kind gesture or loving comment can completely restore your faith in humanity.

I love LOVE hearing stories of people who are the recipients of random acts of kindness. Equally heartwarming is hearing stories of people who go out of their way to be kind to others with no expectations of payback. In a world full of selfishness and impatience, it's always easier to just keep our heads down or repay ugly with more ugly. But what if we modeled the idea that Paul shares in Philippians 2 and we look to the interests of others instead of our own interests? Could we all just make it a point to show genuine love to people? I have a few neat little stories that I'd like to share and would love to hear some of your own stories of kindness!

Friday after my OB appointment, I hit up my salon of choice to get my hair cut and color freshened up. It was both long overdue and something I wanted to get out of the way pre baby. Who knows when I'll get another afternoon to drive all the way to Corpus Christi and sit in a chair for 2 hours? So I had a great afternoon relaxing and reading brainless magazines and chatting with the staff and other guests. We spent a lot of the time chatting about babies of course, as this blatantly obvious belly sparks all sorts of questions from other people. And everyone has an opinion on our surprise baby. And everyone wants to know name choices and nursery color choices and honestly, I enjoy entertaining conversation with other moms about this little Baby M. So fast forward to freshly colored, cut, and styled hair. I changed from the salon's smock back into my own shirt and head out to the front desk to pay for my services and the salon manager meets me and gives me some of the most incredible news.

One of the other clients has already paid for my hair cut AND color. 

Blown away doesn't even begin to describe what I was feeling at that moment! It was completely unexpected and absolutely wonderful. I didn't even get the lady's name. There was no ulterior motive behind her kindness and she expected nothing in return. She blessed my socks off and I hope that her heart was full in return.

Another fun story: Earlier this evening I heard a story of a young couple who despite being uneducated (formally, that is) and unmarried, have had a child together. Instead of allowing this unexpected child to be a burden, they're trying to work hard to make the best out of the situation. Knowing their needs and wanting to show this couple some love & encouragement, a college student went out and bought them a sweet set of crib bedding. Just because.

Let all that meld together for a minute. College student. Next to nothing income. Blessing a family by meeting a basic need with no expectations in return. John Piper defines love as "the overflow of joy in Christ that gladly meets the needs of others." How much easier would it be to truly have a positive influence on the people around us by lovingly meeting their needs?

So here's a challenge for you! Make it a point TODAY to do something kind or say something encouraging to a stranger or someone you know is in need.