Random Acts Of Kindness

[Gwen]

in another thread Marsh shared this experiance.

And you are so correct! Anyway it is in Mid-Missouri, and yes any of you are welcome at any time.

I don't reserve the "free" meals to only missionaries. In fact a couple of weeks ago there were 2 young girls that came in and asked what could they get for $2.00 as that is all they had. Now these girls were I would say one was about 9 years old and the other one maybe 12.

We fixed them a grilled ham and cheese sandwich each and some potato salad. I tried to talk to them to see why they hadn't eaten all day and they just said, "we forgot." I really didn't push it, but if they come back then I will get more information from them.

They went to give me their money and I said that no, it was on me today - as I think any of us would.

My goal is to make a little living while making others lives a bit better if possible. No one leaves hungry, even if it is a 2nd hamburger or sandwich that we make for them. Kinda like a "buffet" menu!

However we make the huge deli sandwich's and most can't finish them anyway.

So yes you are all welcome. See you soon?

Marsha

it reminded me of one of my own. i thought it would be neat to share experiances that we have done or have been done for us. the things we do because we love our neighbor, or have touched us because this world has some beauty left in it.

this is something that happened to my family.

it was this last mother's day. we have 5 children, 4 of them between the ages of 5 and 1. we provide for ourselves, but don't have money comming out our ears. we go out to eat, but rarely do we splerge. we share drinks, and meals that kind of thing. we can feed our family at a restraunt for less than some couples spend on the two of them. anyway, for mother's day my husband wanted to treat me and we decided we would go to the olive garden and splurge (this is where i wanted to eat and it was my present). everyone got their own drink (lol), whatever plate they wanted, apitizers, desert anything was good that night. we really couldn't afford it but we did it anyway. (i know shame on us, also a source of anxiety for me). the manager kept comming by our table and checking on us, making sure we were taken care of, talking to the kids, she was even getting drinks herself or having anyone who walked by reguardless of their table get things for us. she was excited about the kids, and asked lots of questions about where we were from and if it was our mother's day meal. (we were having the dinner on friday night after picking up my stepson who lives 1 hour drive north of us.) with our kids the ages they are we are used to a lot of attention so we thought nothing of it, it was just really friendly and a lot of fun. the manager brought us the check, that was odd, handing it to my husband she looked at me and said happy mother's day. i figured she gave us the manager or employee discount 10% or something (which would have been more than enough to be a gift). my husband opened the check, and then looked at her. she said get you wife something nice for mother's day, and bid us goodnight. when we got outside i took the check from my husband and looked at it. it was well over $100, and she gave it to us compleatly free. we could have paid for the meal, and we would have to have tightened the budget the rest of the month to do so, and it was a decision we made. i don't know why she did it, and i don't know why she picked us. we are not poor, and would have survived. however, i must say i think it touched me more than she will know, when i realized what she had done it brought tears to my eyes. it chokes me up thinking about it now. that kind of thing doesn't happen to me. it was one of the best gifts ever given to me and by a stranger no less. there is a lot more as to why it touched me so much, but that's not really part of the story. lol

we just never know how we touch ppl. as we come into this season of thanks giving and gratitued i'd love to here some of the experiances you have had.

[StrawberryFields]

Here is a thread from about a year ago with some examples.

http://www.ldstalk.com/forums/index.php?sh...cts+of+Kindness

[BenRaines]

What a great act of kindness. And smart too. That act of kindness and I have no reason not to believe that it was a very sincere act on that persons part but what great advertisement as well. You will have great things to say about Olive Garden to all you know.

I think it is great of that manager and smart too.

I love the song we sing in church "Because I have been given much I too must give".

I try to live my life that way.

Ben Raines

[CrimsonKairos]

Like I always say (okay, sometimes say):

You can't get dizzy from doing too many good turns.

[rosie321]

crimson ( I think I'm going to keep calling you apostleknight I just can't get used to Crimson)

You can't get dizzy from doing too many good turns.

Maybe dizzy isn't the word but the expression no good deed goes unpunished often times comes to mind. It's amazing how some people can't handle a good thing and try making it into something bad. Perfect example those girls cooking cookies for their next door neighbor some time back and the neighbor got all upset and had them arrested. My head is spins from examples like that. It's amazing how the good is made bad sometimes or not appreciated with the intent that it was done with...

I am certain in the end it'll all work out though:)

The fruits of good deeds made known.....

Someday.......

For now faith in every footstep:)

[CrimsonKairos]

There are some real jerks in the world, no doubt. I think Confucius said:

All good deeds are punished; all unpunished goods are deeds.

Or something equally cryptic and mysterious. I have to wonder though, if all these Confucius quotes are authentic. I mean, he supposedly also said:

Man who run in front of car get tired; man who run behind car get exhausted.

And I know that they didn't have cars in Confucius's lifetime. Hmmmm, makes you wonder...

B)

[Gwen]

i agree it was good managment. and i know that no two restraunts are equal, it is all in the managment. even knowing that there was an alterior motive it still meant a lot to me. we just never know.

one thanksgiving our local grocery store had one of those campaigns where you spend so much money in a set period of time and they give you a discount cupon. i received one that was $25 off a $50 or more purchase. it was the day before thanksgiving and i relized it would expire that week. we were headed out of town so i knew i would not use it. i turned to the lady behind me with a buggy full of stuff and asked her if she had over $50 of groceries. she looked at me wide eyed like $50 is an understatment. i handed it to her and said happy thanksgiving. she must have said "God bless you" five times before i could leave. my only regret about it was i didn't have a passalong card in my purse to give her with it. lol

we all have alterior motives. it makes us feel good, advertisement, sharing the gospel. doesn't matter what it is, in the end it still comes out to loving our neighbor. i guess in this day and age we just have to hope our neighbor loves us. or maybe we need to change from random acts to premeditated acts. plan them out so as to make sure if our neighbor doesn't like it they can't call the cops on us. lol

[pushka]

Queuing up to get into Blackpool's Pleasure Beach theme park, with my friend and our 5 kids between us...we knew it was gonna be very expensive if my friend and I both got the full wristbands.

Some people in the queue in front of us must have overheard our chattering about how we were gonna get round the problem, and it turned out that they had some spare half price vouchers...they gave us enough so that we got in for a fraction of the full cost...we had a great day too!! :)

[TXRed]

On October 11, 2005, hubby and I decided to go to the Mexican Restaurant here in town to eat dinner. All by ourselves, we ordered a meal for each of us, and then, we order quesadillas to share in honor of our youngest daughter whose birthday we were celebrating. (she had died on October 1, 2004 at the age of 18)

There was a large family group in the same dining room that we were in, and since we knew them, they greeted us cordially. (we only knew them, because one of them was the funeral director that we had dealt with)

Since they had gotten there before we did, they finished before we did, and they said bye to us as they left. We continued to linger over our meal and talk about our daughter.

When we were ready to leave, hubby went up to the check out stand to pay, and he was told that the guys who had just left had already paid for our meal.

The tears started to flow, and I couldn't get out of the restaurant fast enough. I've done things like that before for others, but it was extremely difficult to have someone else do it for me. Plus, I knew that the man couldn't possibly remember that it was our daughter's birthday; so I knew that he had been prompted by Heavenly Father. It's pretty awesome when you KNOW that your Heavenly Father is paying attention to your life even the smaller parts of it.

It took me quite awhile before I got the opportunity to talk to that man about it. I thanked him for paying for the meal, and then, I told him that it had been my daughter's birthday. He told me that he did not know that until after he had paid for the meal. His wife reminded him. He did it, because he felt prompted to do it. Then, later on, after his wife explained to him about the birthday, he realized where his prompting had come from. That was pretty significant for both of us. He was pretty excited that, as he put it, "I finally got something right".

It's really a lot of fun to take the opportunity to do small acts of kindness when you can. It doesn't have to be anything super big. Sometimes, just making your family meal and preparing a plate to take to a neighbor can be something really great for you and the neighbor.

We were at a Chinese Restaurant once in another town when we spotted a couple of LDS missionaries come into the restaurant. So; we went and paid for their meal without them knowing. When they went to pay, the owner told them that someone else had already paid for them. They nervously looked around trying to figure out who in the world they knew in the restaurant. They did not know us since we live an hour away; so they were really puzzled. They left with a nervous giggle and kept looking back until they got out into the parking lot. It was great! We thoroughly enjoyed it.

The other day, we were stopped at Wendy's in another town about an hour away from us. Hubby went inside while I waited out in the car. A car with two missionaries and a couple of teenagers pulled up next to our car. I leaned over and said, "You guys aren't from that "Mormon" church are you?" They hesitated a second and then grinned and said, "yes, ma'am". So they stood there and talked to me until hubby came back outside. They were going on splits but were going to get lunch first. When hubby got in the car, I told him to buy their lunch. So; he went back in, but the missionaries were in the restroom; so he gave the money to the teenagers and told them that lunch was on us.

Like I said, I find it so much easier to do something for someone else than to let someone else do something for me. My old bishop's wife told me once not to "cheat her of her blessings". She was wanting to bring a meal out to my house when one of my children was born, and I was telling her that it was too much trouble for her to drive 30 minutes when hubby & kids could cook. When she told me not to cheat her, I gave in and let her bring a meal out. What a tremedous blessing that was! Hubby and the kids could have cooked, but when she brought out a meal, I did not have to figure out what to tell them to cook. It took a burden off of me, and obviously took one off of my hubby and kids, too.

Sometimes, we don't know the blessings that someone gets when we do something randomly for them or the deep reasons behind the prompting to do something for someone. Sometimes, we are not suppose to know. We just need to follow those small promptings that lead us to do little acts of kindness. It's really super great if we find out later on that there was a special need that lead up to the prompting, but we don't have to find it out. We will be blessed in many ways for just being obedient to the prompting. . . . . ..whatever it might be.

It may not even make sense to us. . . . . . . like the Olive Garden manager. The manager may have done it because someone else once did it for her, and she was remembering that. Who knows! It doesn't really matter what reason she did it. . . . ... . . .. .the family was blessed, and I'm sure the manager was, too.

In my case, we were struggling with our daughter's birthday. The 1st anniversary of her death which had only been 10 days earlier was very difficult for us. (Much more so than I ever thought it would be. I thought that since we had done so well during the initial time period, we were going to be doing fine, but that was definitely NOT the case.) That first anniversary of her death was so much more difficult than the actual funeral and all was. I was definitely not prepared for that. So; there we were trying to eat at her favorite restaurant (her old boyfriend's father's business), trying to deal with her birthday, and Heavenly Father let us know (by using the funeral director's kindness) that HE had not forgotten us or the fact that we were having a difficult time.

Listen to those promptings and be obedient.

Peace,

TXRed

[Outshined]

About a year ago I was on drill with the National Guard and went out to eat lunch with three buddies I'd been in Iraq with. While we were eating, an older gentleman saw the uniforms and combat patches and approached us. He talked with us a while about service, and what Iraq had been like, and talked about his experiences in the Korean War. We had a nice conversation, then he left with his family.

When we were ready to leave, we asked for the check, and the waitress told us the gentleman had already paid for our lunch, and said to tell us welcome home. It was a very humbling experience.

[shanstress70]

You guys have definitely inspired me to do more of this. I do my share of giving to charity, etc. I'm on my company's charity committee too and try ti get all the money I can for local charities, as well as set up opportunities for us to come together as a company and donate in various ways.

But I have to admit that I haven't done a lot of this random stuff... I'm going to look for an opportunity to do something like this soon.

TXRed and ALMom, your stories gave me chills!

[pushka]

I'm really happy to hear all of your stories of random acts of kindness.

I'm sure that all of you, and those who did those acts to you are genuinly kind, generous people...however, I'm going to be nasty and cynical now...play devil's advocate...so I apologise in advance.

I just hope that some people who are doing these acts to those who they perhaps know from Church, are not keeping some sort of tally sheet of x amount of blessings they are accruing for doing the Lord's work...

Please don't shout at me!!!

[Gwen]

service and love are a funny thing. they defy the laws of math. when you serve, you give, that should be subtracting and taking something away from you. when you love the more people you include it should divide the amount to go around. but it doesn't work that way. there are those that do things for a tally sheet and they have their reward, a tally sheet. those who give real service are added upon themselves. both the giver and the receiver are added upon by the act. it fills both hearts, no one is left empty. i don't keep a tally but i do remember the acts because i was blessed by them as well. it filled me and thus became a special experiance for me, a memerable one. we love those whom we serve. families build a great deal of love because of the great amount of service there. the more family the greater the love. if done the way god has asked the family builds love and strength, not divides and subtracts. that is the only goal i have, to do things the way i was commanded by my heavenly father. people here could say, well that is just stupid, you didn't really do anything or someone didn't really do anything for you. it wouldn't matter. my only regret would be sharing something so special with people who didn't care or appreciate it. doesen't chage what is in my heart. so weither someone is sharing a tally sheet or sharing special experiances. makes no difference to me, God knows whos hearts are whose, not my problem.

also i guess critics of christianity could say the bible is one big tally sheet of how wonderful Jesus was. all the good things he did. just a plea for attention i guess, and a good one because we are still talking about him today. and they could say that all day long, doesn't change what i know to be true.

[shanstress70]

That's not my intention at all, Pushka. BUT NO, I'M NOT SHOUTING!!!

I grew up very poor with a single mom. My mom was always determined not to get public assistance of any kind, so it was really rough, but I admire her for that. There were several times in my childhood where people anonymously helped us out. My mom wouldn't have accepted it otherwise.

Now that I'm able to, I like to return the favor of giving back as much as I can... kind of like paying it forward.

Also I know how fortunate I am, and how fragile a comfortable life is. I was raised around a very impoverished region (Appalachians) and I never forget where I came from and how people struggle every day to make ends meet. Now that I'm in a more affluent area, sometimes that poverty seems so far away, but it's really not. I just hope that if something happens to me and my family, people would be as kind to us.

AND it just feels good to give.

[pushka]

Hi Almom and Shanstress..thanks for not shouting at me!!

As I said in my post, I know that all the examples posted here were done out of the goodness of people's hearts, and were much appreciated...I'm certainly not judging anybody...I would do the same acts of kindness and would be grateful if someone did those for me too...

I think I was just saying what some cynics would say, just to say it before they did!! LOL.

I think you're all great for what you do and for what you receive!! :)

[Guest MrsS]

About a year after I left my first husband, I moved to a little nicer area in my small (1,207 people) town. I was "in town"now, rather than five miles from the city limits.

At the end of our road lived a single woman. She was in her late 50's- she was unemployed and basically unemployable. She was a Care Giver, but her back and legs were so bad, she could not care for anyone. Her unemployment was due to expire, & she was on food stamps. As you know, food stamps will not pay for toiletries. She was having to ask her ex-husband for money just to buy toilet paper, bath soap and toothpaste! He was already buying the cat and dog food and paying her rent.

I was on unemployment too - but I was also working odd jobs at two members homes. I was cleaning their homes on a weekly basis, so I had cash to buy the toiletries. I was working out of a Temp Agency too. I also had a year and a half's worth of food stored.

When toilet paper was on sale at Wal Mart I would buy an extra 12 pack of the double rolls and I would leave it on her back porch. I would buy soap in the largest amounts I could - with coupons off that I hunted down on the internet, then I would set a couple of bars inside her sun porch for her.

I had been given 6 dozen cloth napkins. I matched up three sets of four that did not have matching placemats and wrapped them in "brown paper sack" paper and left them on her front stoop. Yes she had to launder them, but because she was doing all of her ex's laundry (he supplied the detergent) 12 cloth napkins really didn't add to the laundry and it did away with costly paper towels.

During this time I was making homemade bread. Every Wednesday I got up at 5 am and started in on the 3 batches of 6 loaves each that I would be making that day. Thursday I would take her three loaves of bread. One from each batch: White, Multi-grain, and Whole Wheat) These she knew that I made - real hard to mask the fresh baked bread smell emanating from my house! I also took loaves of bread to the people whose homes I was cleaning and to my Home/Visiting Teaching couple.

I had more fun giving her the things that I knew she needed and could not get for herself. I visited with her once a week and during that visit I would note what she was running low on, or was totally out of.

Her answering machine was a real piece of work - that stupid thing never would work right, neither did the phone she was renting from the phone company in town. I found a GE phone for $10.00 and I had an extra answering machine, which I gave to her for Christmas. She had asked me to watch her house while she went in to the Dr for treatment on her back. She had me stay in the house - she could not get her cat to come in and she didn't want to lock up with out the cat inside. This was my opportunity to install the phone and machine. I had my other neighbor record the message and I hooked them up. Then I wrapped the handset with some cloth christmas ribbon I had saved from last christmas. I also wrapped the empty boxes and put them under her tiny little Christmas tree.

She didn't notice the phone for two days - and in those two days her ex, three neighbors and about four other friends had also visited - she never knew who did it.

She did things for me too - she cut my hair, she made me the best spaghetti. She listened to me when I had to vent, and she held me when I sobbed my heart out at yet another lonely christmas.

When I moved to Arizona - I had 4 big packages of the tp - (new Husband said we didn't have to take them-no room in the trailer) I asked one of the neighbors to please put one on the other neighbors porch every month. I know it will only be for four months, but I really don't want her to find out it was me doing it.

All this time, I was never stretched for money. I had enough to eat, my tithing was paid, my bills were paid, and the Temp Agency always had a job ready for me when the last one was through. I also gained more self esteem and confidence in myself.

Thinking back on this, I think I need to find someone to be a "secret elf" for.

Thanks Almom for starting this thread - it really brightens my day when I read the new posts.

[TXRed]

I just hope that some people who are doing these acts to those who they perhaps know from Church, are not keeping some sort of tally sheet of x amount of blessings they are accruing for doing the Lord's work...

Please don't shout at me!!!

If you are doing "random acts of kindness" with the idea in mind that you are racking up the blessings, you are NOT doing random acts of kindness. In fact, I'd be concerned that I was adding fuel to my own "burning". (so to speak)

"Random", to me, means that it was not something premeditated or planned out. It was spontaneous. Now, granted, I believe that some of us have to "practice" by planning acts of kindness in the beginning until we learn to "hear" the spirit and follow through on the promptings. I believe that the more often we "listen" to the spirit and follow through on the promptings, the more promptings we are privileged to receive.

And, I agree with the lady who wrote that she remembers the things she did . . . . . not because she is counting the blessings. . . . . .but because they were special blessings that she received right then from doing those things.

I hesitate to share some of my personal experiences simply because too often others assume we are bragging. I too feel that I simply did what I was told to do. And, I can tell you that the feeling is fabulous when you KNOW that you did what you were prompted to do. Sometimes, you never even know WHY you were suppose to do whatever it was, but when you find out the WHYs, that is fantastic!!! It makes you really understand that the Lord is mindful of each and every one of us. . . . . . . and. . . . . .the great part is that HE allows us the privilege of doing things for HIM and allowing HIM to use us. . . . . . kind of like HIS arms.

I had the privilege once of taking a lady to the hospital for radiation treatments every day for a week. One day, I drove her to the hospital in Dallas (about 45 minutes from where she lived) and then I drove her back to her house, and I turned around and went back to Carrollton to do some shopping. On my way back home, I had to go through her little town, and I got the message, "Go check on Pat". Well, I told myself that was dumb, because I'd just seen her earlier and I would be seeing her again the next day. So; I kept heading towards the outskirts of her town, but the message came in loud and clear again. My response was not a nice one, I practically yelled that it was dumb, because I'd see her again in the morning. As I reached the bridge that would take me outside of her city limits, the spirit almost shouted at me, "GO check on Pat!!!" I said outloud, "FINE!" Then, I turned my car around and went back to Pat's house. When I pulled up out front, she motioned me from the living room window to come in, and when I did, she burst into tears. She told me that she had gotten up to fix her lunch, but her leg hurt so bad that she couldn't stand there long enough to use the microwave. She got herself back to the couch, but she hurt too bad to get up even to get a drink of water. She had been sitting there praying that someone would come and help her.

She'd been praying for help, and I'd been arguing with the spirit about whether or not I needed to go back to her house. To top it all off, she got a phone call from the doctor telling her that her leg was broken (hairline fracture in the upper leg) which was why she was in so much pain.

I felt sooooooooooo bad that I'd been arguing with the Spirit when I realized that the Lord was trying to answer her prayers by trying to get me to go help her.

So many times, I've had that type of thing happen to me, and yet I still sometimes fight with the spirit. Sometimes, the Lord has to practically hit me in the head to get me to listen.

The more we actually practice listening and acting on those promptings, the more privileges we receive in that type of manner.

I did not do anything out of the ordinary except to finally give in and do what I was told to do. That doesn't make me anything special, but it sure did teach me a lot. I learned that I needed to be more obedient and quicker about doing so. I learned that Heavenly Father is very mindful of all of HIS children regardless of who they are or what religion they are. I learned that HE can use us to do HIS bidding if we are willing. I learned (at least for a time period) to pay more attention to promptings. I still, on occasion, fight the promptings. (I guess I'm a slow learner)

When we have the opportunity to serve others, we are rewarded. It feels good, and it makes us feel good. There is not any reward that is better than the pure pleasure of helping someone.

Practice! Listen! Seek after opportunities to be of service!

Be obedient to that still small voice!

Peace,

TXRed

[pushka]

Hi TXRed..thanks for your post. I really don't think that anyone on this site is bragging about their random acts of kindness, or of the acts of kindness shown towards them.

As I said earlier...I was just playing devil's advocate, just in case someone else came along and wanted to pick fights with you all about the blessings...I'm sorry if I upset anybody.

[TXRed]

Hi TXRed..thanks for your post. I really don't think that anyone on this site is bragging about their random acts of kindness, or of the acts of kindness shown towards them.

As I said earlier...I was just playing devil's advocate, just in case someone else came along and wanted to pick fights with you all about the blessings...I'm sorry if I upset anybody.

Oh, my goodness. . . . ...sorry if you misunderstood me. I'm not the least bit upset, and I understood that you were playing devil's advocate. (a roll I play quite often myself) :)

Some things I'm very cautious about sharing, but I did not feel the least bit cautious about what I shared on here at this time. I live in TX which is not a "big" LDS site. In fact, there are more Baptist churches in our little town than Carter has little pills. (and we only have about 3,000 people in our community. We have to drive 20 minutes to the next town to go to Church.) So; we are quite use to having people come down on us about various aspects of religion. And, then there are those who don't quite understand when someone says they were "prompted by the spirit" or that "God let them know that they were suppose to do something ". Sometimes, if a person has never had an experience like that, they think someone who says they have is a total nutcase.

I'm so sorry if I came across as being upset. I promise, I was far from it. I was simply trying to express my opinion, but I was definitely not offended at all. In a way, I was trying to confirm that I agreed with some of the other posters.

Again, I apologize if I came across wrong. You don't owe me an apology, and you did not upset me.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!

Peace,

TXRed

[pushka]

Hi TXRed...thanks very much for your post...I haven't been online for a few days, so haven't read it till today...

I'm really pleased to hear that you weren't upset...I suppose I felt a little guilty after making my initial post, and that's why I was perhaps overreacting to others' posts to me afterwards!! :)

I hope you had a really good Thanksgiving Day too!!