Kindness and Gratitude in the Neighborhood!Smakprov

PLANTING SEEDS OF KINDNESS!

I get great joy out of giving; it has always been my nature.  You don’t have to be extravagant in giving.  It can be your time, talent, or resource.  I had decided to think of the seasons or holidays and just make up a little something to deliver to my four new neighbors. If I made cookies, it was easy to package up a half dozen and deliver them.  Each time the small prize was received with delight, and it made my heart feel good.  

Just like planting a field of corn, there is a certain time to plant.  Based on that principle, I looked for times to plant seeds of kindness.  If a neighbor was ill or going through a difficult time, maybe I needed to make a meal, or ask other neighbors to go in with me on a gift.  A farmer plants a crop to yield a harvest; right?  So, it is with planting seeds of kindness.  Now don’t read this wrong. We don’t give to receive, but the principle of giving always yields a harvest.  My reason for planting is not to get, but to spread love throughout the neighborhood and allow Christ's light to shine.  

We live in a day when many neighbors don’t even know who lives next door.  This is probably truer for big city living and country living, but in days gone by (through the 1950s at least), neighbors played such an important role to those who lived next door!  It is too beautiful of an experience to miss it in this fast-paced, busy world we live in.  Our neighbors are gifts to us!!  So, we need to spread a little kindness & gratitude!

“Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law.”  Romans 13:10

Wow is this scripture spot on, and I feel it coincides with the Golden Rule:

“So, in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”  Matthew 7:12

Once we reach out to those around us and spread love and kindness, it is appreciated by others. If done consistently, other people begin to spread kindness, and before long, kindness is everywhere!

CAN YOU RELATE?

When was the last time you went out of your way to do something kind for another person?  How did that person receive it?  How did it make you feel?  You see, I am not the only one in our circle that spreads kindness; it has come back to me time and time again.  Join me tomorrow to see ways people respond!!