A Sentiment

God knew what He was doing when He sent a gentle breeze and brought a lovely butterfly to set my heart at ease. The happiness of your friendship and the gentleness of your words have touched my life in special ways and now I feel assured. Thank you for your loyalty and for reading everyday. I only hope you find things to make a happy day.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Thoughtful Thursday


I was thinking about kindness today. I am preparing a casserole dish for a funeral this morning. I'm making those decadent potatoes that were in my blog earlier this week. I don't know this person...we had never spoken, but I am on the funeral committee for our Church and this is what we women do. People have done the same thing for me a time or two. This is part of committee work in the Church,and there are so many little things that we all could do to make things nicer in our world...if we only took the time.

I can remember, as a little kid, taking my Grandmother downtown once a month. She walked with two canes and it was the highlight of her month...to be able to do some shopping "on her own" We would take a taxi and go do the shopping then she would treat me with something from the bakery, when we were finished. Sometimes, as i got older, I wanted to do something with my friends, but in our family you kept your word and commitments were important. After our shopping expedition, I was always glad that i did it.

Someone left a little framed picture at my door a few years ago. It said, "You never really leave a place you love, you take a part of it with you, and leave a part of you behind." I was moving to another town and found this inside my door on moving day...I never found out who put it there, but it was such a kind thing to do and I have it by my kitchen sink so I can always remember that kindness.



Acts of Thoughtfulness do not have to cost a lot of money.



1.Tape the exact change for a soda to a vending machine or a payphone.
2.Pay the toll for the person behind you.
3.Leave flowers in front of someones house.
4.Bake cookies for your neighbors.
5.Put quarters in the laundry machine for the next person.
6.Send sympathy cards with beautiful messages to people.
7.Leave chocolate on the desk of your co-workers.
8.Treat someone to a cup of their favorite coffee.
9.Drop pennies in parking lots for children to find.
10.Send a soldier a letter.
11.Take a picture of a neighbor’s yard and send them a thank you note for keeping a beautiful garden.
12.Clip out an article about a friend - from the newspaper or church bulletin- and send with a note.

13.Send get well cards to your friends and family.

14.Just smile.

In these days of computers, we don't send letters and cards much anymore. There's nothing like going to the mailbox and holding a hand addressed card or note in your hand. A little present to make us happy.

Balisha

4 comments:

coolwaterworks said...

Hi Balisha,

So nice of you to bake for a funeral of someone you don't know... And thank you for this post on kindness... :) It made me realize that I made a commitment, and that has to be fulfilled as far as I can. You see, I am sponsoring a child to school through World Vision. With the cut-downs on our working days, it's becoming hard to make both ends meet. And I admit, I sometimes think of this commitment as a little burden in these hard times. Sometimes being kind is a little bit hard to do... But a commitment is a commitment... And the thought that I am making a difference in a kid's life is uplifting enough...

Balisha said...

Hi Mark,
When I got to Church, I found out that no one on the committee knew this person. His son is a member and asked the committee to help out. A meal like that means so much to grieving people...and it's a nice gesture to ask people to share a meal after the funeral.
It's wonderful that you contribute through World Vision, to help a child go to school. Someday that child may help someone else.Life's a circle you know.

Tara said...

I am so glad you found me while blogging. That is a great post about kindness. Everyone could sure use a dose of it now and then. I teach elementary school and kindness seems to be a thing of the past with this generation. I try to model kindness everyday with my students and am always encouraging them to help someone out during the day in some way. Mentoring is a full time job! So glad we found each other's blog. I am excited to see what you write about next.

Balisha said...

So Blessed...thankyou for your kind comments.This is mainly a gardening blog...but I mix in lots of other topics. I am older and like to tell a little bit of my past experiences along with the current things.My Grandchildren love hearing about my life years ago.Come again please.