Matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers – Saturday, February 21, 2015
Day #4 – Surprise! A Day to Be Generous! Prayerfully.
When I checked my email this morning before I left the house, I saw this generosity suggestion from #40acts. Hmm. I remember commenting to God—not specifically praying, mind you—“Gee, I wonder who I might be generous to, today?”
This suggestion is similar to times I blogged about in my daily blog last year, A Year of Being Kind (at wordpress.com). Many of the situations I saw as I looked over the kids’ 40acts calendar for Lent 2015 were similar, actually. I look upon that as a wonderful thing! Yes, I’ve done today’s particular generous, kind deed several times last year. Except, I sort-of, kind-of made it all up as I went along, last year.
This year, it is decidedly different. Being involved with 40acts and doing Lent generously this year gives me a sense of the unexpected. Not knowing what sort of generous, kind suggestion will come my way the next day. As in, today.
I went to my regularly scheduled yoga class at the YMCA this morning. (My teacher is marvelous! The attendance at her classes testify to that fact, too.) I grabbed two mandarin oranges from the bowl on the kitchen table as I went out the door. I ate one after yoga, while I changed in the locker room. The other? I gave away.
These were not just any old pieces of fruit. No, they were special, super-sweet mandarin oranges! Fantastic in flavor and texture. Absolutely perfect, in my opinion. And the woman I gave the orange to? A lovely employee at the Y. A member of the janitorial staff. Always cheerful, pleasant, with a friendly smile on her face. Which brightened and got even wider when I handed her the orange. She thanked me for the orange. I returned her bright smile. She and I exchanged a quick hug in the hallway, and that was that.
Except for the grace. The surprise. A spontaneous, kind, generous act. I’m so glad I thought of it as I left the locker room and happened to meet this lovely lady. I hope she felt special today, through something as small as an unexpected gift of a fantastic orange. God bless her, today and every day!
(Check out #40acts; doing Lent generously at www.40acts.org.uk )
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Why not visit my sister blog, “the best of” A Year of Being Kind. @chaplaineliza
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