last week my neighbor Louise came over to thank Gentry for the for the cookies and picture she delivered and while she was over here talking to me she asked if I had any VHS tapes she could borrow because she only had 4 and was sick of watching them (yes I said VHS) i grabbed the 3 I had and handed them to her and said... "girl you don't have a dvd player?" she said "no" and I said "oh man you need to tell your sons thats what you want for christmas" and here's the clincher... she said "they don't get me gifts for christmas, no one does" that broke my heart. how sad! how would you feel if every christmas you gave the people you loved gifts and you never got ANYTHING from them. now I know the phrase its better to give then receive (and yes after doing these 12 days of kindness I would agree with it) ,but man sometimes its also nice to be blessed with something for yourself too. so this made me start thinking... how wonderful would it be if we could bless her with a dvd player and some dvds this christmas, so I talked to a few friends about it and they came thru! I mean really came thru :) ( I have some great friends did I mention that, and they have great hearts too) one friend gave a dvd player, and 2 more friends gave movies...not to mention the 2 that offered to mail me stuff to give her. I too got some movies and we had a nice TV that we weren't using anymore that was collecting dust in our attic so we got it all together wrapped it up and decided to go surprise her.... when we got there and I had wrapped gifts she looked at me in shock! genuine shock! and I said here we have some goodies for you and proceeded to hand her the box with the dvd player in it. she opened it and started to tear up (which means I did too if you know me) and then when I handed her the big stack of dvds we had wrapped and told her this wasn't just from me that I had some friends that helped pitch in too... she started to tear up even more. It meant so much to her that
what I learned today:
I have friends that have great hearts! I mean really how many people would want to give to someone they don't even know? not many, thats why I consider my friends true treasures! I also learned that people still use not only VCRs but that they also have 30 +year old TVs too... thats older then me! I also learned that a TV sitting in your attic collecting dust, that you never use anymore can bless someone more then you ever thought, same with that old dvd player and all those old movies you never watch anymore. things that are old to you can still be appreciated and a huge blessing to someone that otherwise would have gotten NOTHING for Christmas. Now I realize christmas isn't about presents, trust me I know this and I agree fully, but I do think that christmas should be a time to celebrate! celebrate the birth of our savior, celebrate family, celebrate friends, celebrate the joy that you have been given another year on this earth, and to celebrate and appreciate all people even ones you don't know and today that was accomplished! :)
special thanks to Sarah and Kyle Hunter, Mariah Utz, and Kristi and Eric Cobb! thank you so much for having a heart big enough to love on someone you don't even know and for helping me make a 70 year old Lady feel loved and appreciated this Christmas. your gesture of love not only affected Louise but me too! I adore each of you :) also thanks to everyone that offered to buy things and mail them to me! I appreciate you too ;)
So there you have it folks! 12 days of kindness complete and my heart is full :)
stay tuned for 12 days of kindness reflection coming soon!!!
What a wonderful way to finish the 12 days of blessings. I look forward to meeting her one day. We'll have to keep her stocked with new DVD's from time to time. Maybe take her to the library where she can check out free DVDs. :) Love ya lady and your big heart~!
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