Share Your LIVe Stories

The Giver Is Receiving the Blessing...A Coincidence?

2009-09-20T08:24:00.003-07:00

Another friend of mine wrote that she has had awesome experiences from doing act of kindness for others. Last Tuesday, she was taking her daughter to a doctor's appointment. She was preparing to pay the co pay and the secretary states "Oh, no, that's OK. You don't owe anything today. You have a credit."

Then after returning home, my husband asked her what they owed at the Doctor, and she replied "Nothing!" It turns out that her husband paid it for her! She asked how can he paid it with no money in the account. Her husband then replied that they had just received a refund check from car insurance.

Her husband also told her that he had received a raise at work that week! And to top that good news off, the workplace was back dating the raise to April 1st.

She said that they were extremely thankful for all the blessings they had received recently. Her daughter has been excited about the LIVe kindness cards. She is thinking of all kinds of way to give the cards, also!

Could this all be a coincidence? Or maybe God blessing kindness?

Cashier's Treat & Receipt

2009-09-20T08:05:00.005-07:00

Another friend of mine gave out her first card....to the girl who served her in the cafe at Borders. They sell little candies and cookies at the register, and before she left, she asked the waitress/cashier which candy was the best (so to insure that she gave her what she liked).

As she paid the food bill, she handed the cashier the candy, and, after talking a bit, she went back to her table. Then she realized she should also give the cashier that candy receipt, just in case the cashier needed to prove she didn't take it (when her shift ended). The cashier wondered if this was a "pay it forward" act. She replied thatshe had only wanted to share God's love with her. Then the cahsier proceeded to tell her of an incident she had a week earlier when her car broke down. A lady came by and gave her $40 to help her situation. My friend told her that God was looking out for her.

The cashier was really blessed that week!

By the way, leaving the receipts with cashiers and waitresses is something that we ALL should remember to do. When she gave her the receipt, the cashier said "You must have read my mind. They check our bags when we leave for the night to see if we've taken anything." Good move! The last thing we want to happen is to have our "good deeds" cause someone to get in trouble!

Flowers for You

2009-09-20T07:44:00.002-07:00

While in the grocery store right before a team meeting, I saw some beautiful potted flowers that happened to be on sale. I purchased one and quickly left, so as not to be late.

We meet a a nearby restaurant monthly. While discussing LIVe issues, we've also blessed many people there. Leaving a REALLY nice tip for the waitress or paying for a family's bill at a nearby table.

This time I walked in and set the flowers down on our table to give us some "atmosphere" and we proceeded to eat and discuss upcoming events. At the end of our meeting, we got up from the table and paid our bills. Then I walked back to our table, put my tip on the table close to the flowers. Just then the waitress appeared from the kitchen. I complimented her on her good service that day & told her that we really hadn't needed to add decor to our table. These flowers were purchased for her, just to brighten her day. She stood there, shocked & pleased. I thought she was going to cry. "Thank you so much! Why did you do that, though?" I said that we were simply trying to show God's love in small ways, in gratitude for all He's done for us. Absolutely NO strings attached! She walked way still shocked & I think the rest of her day was just a little bit brighter.

Drive-By Kindness

2009-09-20T07:27:00.003-07:00

Imagine you are at the bus stop waiting for your bus. You've already been there for 10 minutes, and it seems that you'll be waiting there at least that much more or longer. And, to top it off, it's over 100 degrees. You're looking down wondering just how much time you actually spend right here waiting. Then in front of you a person stops and offers you an ice cold bottle of water! Aaaaahhhhhhh...

Well, that was our Saturday "mission" this month: just to cool off some very grateful people. Two of us hopped in a car and drove to nearby bus stops, handing out the ice cold water. We got responses ranging from "Really? This is for me? Wow!" and "Oooohhhhhh, thank you SO much! God bless you."

It was amazing and fun. I drove, sometimes we stopped and ran the waterbottles up to the people waiting for their buses, and other times (because of traffic), I simply pulled close to the side of the road and my friend rolled her car window down, handing them the water & a LIVe card.

It was great fun! I feel more blessed than the receivers.

Hot Chocolate for a Cold Day

2009-06-02T16:44:00.003-07:00

Yes, it does get rather chilly around November in Phoenix, believe it or not. I was returning some library books with my son, when I was approached by a mother and her daughter outside of the Public Library. It was a chilly, very windy day. They were collecting signatures for an issue on an upcoming ballot.

After I talked with the mother for a while, I commented on how chilly it was that day. She agreed and said she wished she had thought to bring a blanket for when they sat outside. I didn't have any blankets in my car. But I did think of something that might warm them up -- hot chocolate!I went next door to a filling station and got two large hot chocolates to bring back to them. My son handed them the hot chocolates & I handed them a kindness card. She was so grateful! She wanted to pay me back, of course, but I simply told her that it was to illustrate God's free love for us all. And she was warm inside and out! What fun!

Spread the True Meaning of Christmas

2009-06-02T16:39:00.002-07:00

Well...I procrastinated again! I was in line at the post office on the busiest mailing day before Christmas 2007. As I waited in line to mail my packages, I noticed that even though all of us were there to mail packages to family and friends, not very many of us at all looked very pleased to be there waiting in line! So I decided that this would be a great place to spread some holiday spirit.

When I finished mailing all my packages, I reached in my wallet and pulled out a $5 bill. I gave it to the girl at the window and asked her to pass it along with a kindness card. She said, "Do you know the gentleman in line behind you?" When I replied that I didn't, she smiled and said, "God bless you!" I was able to brighten her day as well as that of the gentleman in line behind me! Yeah!

Teaching Kindness To My Son

2009-06-02T16:33:00.003-07:00

Our first Christmas in Phoenix (2006), I was able to teach my son, Kyle, an important lesson in sharing God's love. We were at his elementary school helping out at their annual winter festival. In the course of the evening, my son won not one, not two, but THREE separate raffles! We were so surprised! Since I had given the raffle ticket money to my son in order to purchase the raffle tickets, I decided that this would be an excellent opportunity for him to learn the joy of giving and sharing God's love with others.

The family at the table next to ours had been there all evening and had purchased many more raffle tickets than we had, and, of course, they hadn't won any of the raffles. So, I let him pick one of the prizes that we had won -- all were restaurants that he liked, by the way. After deliberating awhile, he chose one. I had him go up to that family & give them the raffle prize to the chosen restaurant with a kindness card on top. They were sooooo grateful! And now my son is excited and is trying to think of more ways in which my family can pass out the cards -- he just LOVES to share!

Drive-Thru Blessing

2009-06-02T16:24:00.003-07:00

Last year, while at my favorite Mexican restaurant's drive thru window, I paid for the car's order behind mine in the drive thru line. You should have seen the cashier's face! She actually went to get her manager to come to the window and "approve" the transaction. She had never witnessed anything like this and absolutely couldn't believe that I didn't know the girl in the car behind me!

I said that I was simply showing God's love in a practical way. She raised her eyebrows at me, but took the LIVe card and the money to pass on to the next car in line.

Two weeks later, I went through the same drive-thru & the cashier recognized me. She asked me if I paid for other orders frequently. I said that I did different things, depending on the circumstances. She said that the girl behind me last time had just been laid off (which was probably why her total was only $1.47). It had meant so much to her & the cashier was obviously moved!

Gina Waltz

Welcome to the LIVe Blog

2009-05-30T23:55:00.002-07:00

Share your stories about your experiences living out the wonderful love God has shown us! You'll be free to post comments to any stories you see here. However, please email your individual LIVe stories for publication to this blog site to: gina.waltz@yahoo.com

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