We were on vacation and all week long Melissa and I have been trying to find someone to serve. At the car rental place there was a woman from NJ coming to visit her daughter. She had a problem with her debit card and wasn’t able to get a car. Melissa and I were able to help her get a car. She kept thanking us over and over.
The best part was when we were leaving, one of the people who worked at the car rental place stopped us and commented on the gesture. She said, the world needs more people like you. It gave me a chance to tell her about The Servant Leader and why we did what we did.
On July 31 I went shopping at Ulta to replace some make up and skin care items. Upon reviewing the receipt at home later, I discovered that I had only been charged for 6 of the 8 items in the bag. Even though I knew I would report this to the store, it was very tempting to just write this off as my “lucky day”. When Pastor Steve issued the challenge Sunday to do something that would make people ask, “why are you doing this”, it was clear what my act would be. I returned to Ulta on Monday and the clerk didn’t even know how to handle such a thing. Both he and his manager commented that people don’t usually point out a mistake in their favor. I said, “Yes, I can understand that… I like a bargain as much as the next person and it was tempting. But for me, honoring God outweighs saving $25.00.” The clerk just nodded and his manager selected some samples to give me as a “reward”. Hopefully that made them think about what standards God would have for them too.
Here’s the unexpected twist that came about since then: This week I received a credit statement from my bank. While depositing 7 business checks I miscalculated the total and shorted myself $60.00. The bank found the error and credited my account! So in the end, I got back more than double what I reimbursed Ulta! Only God knows if my honesty was the catalyst for my bank finding my missing money. Definately a double blessing!
The impact we can have on the life of another never ceases to amaze us. We have a couple of young military families as neighbors. We reach out and make ourselves available especially when a spouse is deployed. Our neighbor (Jim) was getting ready for a deployment to Afganistan. He approached us for advice on replacing his kitchen floor as a gift to his wife Marti. Sonny said he would help him with it when he returned. What Jim didnt know was Sonny took Marti to pick out tile and replaced the floor as a gift prior to Jim’s return. When he returned home he could not understand why anyone would do that for them. We were able to share our faith and love for this family. We also go over and pray with them each time we know Jim is leaving. They expect and welcome this now!! Jim & Marti’s parents respectively have expressed to us during their visits, how much they appreciate us being next door and watching out for their kids. I guess we never know who is watching and the far reaching effects our actions may have in the lives of others. Now onto this weeks challenges
I went to starbucks today to ‘treat’ myself to a frapuccino to get my day started off well as I had woken up exhausted and drained, I had no idea how revilalised and alive I’d feel after my little trip!
I went in, ordered my coffee and said to the cashier, whatever the lady orders behind me, please just put it on my card. He was floored – stood there with his mouth open and said, “really?! that’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done here!” I replied and said well good, it’s just a small gesture to share God’s love. He then told the lady that her order was on me. She replied, “ha, I don’t think she agrees to that!” of course I said, “I do”, and she said, “you don’t have to.” I replied, “I know, but I’d like to,”. and so she thanked me, still rather confused and shocked at the act. I think it clicked a little later when she got her drink and banana bread and said ‘thank you so much’. The cashier, still smiling and amazed said, thank you, and handed me a card ‘next drink on us’.
And so my morning began with a smile….
It had been a tough fall. Believing that God had something else in store for me I had resigned my position in June 09. I was promised a severance package through December that actually stopped in Sept (they claimed shortage of funds). We were surviving month to month. I was contacted by a person I had done some consulting for two years previous. He asked if we could meet. He asked me a couple of questions and then wrote me a check for several hundred dollars. I asked him – “what are you doing? – you don’t owe me anything.” He replied – “God told me to bless you”. He had no idea we would not have enough to pay our bills that month. I told him “thank you – you were obedient to God – you HAVE blessed me!” At the end of the month when we paid our bills we had $7 extra! WOW! God is amazing!
Today was especially pleasing for me. In my attempt to use what I have been learning during this series, I was “out-niced” by another complete stranger. I was at work when one of my employees paged to let me know there was an “issue” with a customer. When I approached the area, there was an elderly man trying to read a tiny map to an address he didn’t know. Since he only knew the street name he needed to get to, and wasn’t really sure of that, I was able to find vague directions to where we thought he needed to get. After giving the first direction, he was already frustrated and confused. I decided I would leave work and have him follow me to the area he needed to be, so that way if anything were to happen or he was in the wrong area, I would be able to further assist him. I was on my way to my good deed, when in stepped another customer, who stated he was headed that way and would be glad to assist. As much as I wanted to help, this gentleman seemed equally as eager and I felt like it was for the very same reason. It really was the right thing to do. I hope to return soon with a story of how I was able to help more, but this story really touched me. I felt as if God wanted me to see that these things are not tasks we are assigned, but simply the right thing to do. It really is amazing how He speaks to us, but it eventually comes through loud and clear.
The months leading up to our move to Virginia Beach were trying. Those complaining about the economy and the lack of employment opportunities here obviously need to try living in a small town in rural Kentucky. If you’re not a teacher or nurse there are no opportunities for you…and even they were being laid off. I searched for a job for months. Application after application. Nothing. Sarah was working at a ham packaging factory, but her hours had been severely reduced. Needless to say, our financial situation wasn’t great.
It was tough, but I believed God would get us through. There were times Sarah and I were hungry, but we didn’t starve. There were times we didn’t have the money to buy gas to get to church. We continued tithing regardless of how large or small the check. We donated food to the benevolence ministry. I continued praying. I continued to believe.
Over the months our needs were met in different ways. There were a couple of instances when we were given some money from people in the church. At another time we were supplied with food and basic household items such as detergent. And on one particular occasion we were expecting a check to be “X” amount, but when we received it it was in fact double “X”. Why? No idea. God.
Although those were difficult times, God brought us through (as He’s promised to do). It was a humbling experience because I hate asking for help. It really strengthened my faith and He used PEOPLE to help us. Hopefully I’ll have the opportunity to serve others as I’ve been served.
On Sunday, I drew an assignment from the free basket. I had laughed at Rick as he told us not to trade what we got, and then I saw what I got and what my sister got and I laughed some more – I wanted to trade! To be honest, hers seemed easier. But I decided to stick with mine since Rick had explicitly told us not to trade.
My task was simply to knock on the door of a neighbor I didn’t know and introduce myself. I immediately imagined a rather awkward scene like this:
“Hi, I’m Emily. I live a couple doors down and I just wanted to introduce myself.” – me
“Hi, I’m ____. Nice to meet you.” – Neighbor
“Nice to meet you too.” – me
“chirp.” – cricket
“Welp, see ya later.” – me
Instead, this happened:
I arrived home from work today and noticed that the very neighbor I wanted to meet was just walking out the door on her way to the mailboxes down the street. I RAN into the house, grabbed the dog (his adorableness could break glacial ice), said a brief hello to my rather confused husband, and RAN back out. I attempted to look cool as I turned the corner. I breezily stopped and said hello and I was not awkward. This was a feat from God, people! My neighbor not only said hello back, she also told me that her husband is in the navy and they are new in town and she’d love to hang out some time. I met her fun four year old son and we chatted for a few minutes.
I can’t wait to follow through and spend some time with her and eventually invite her to Essential.
The little slip of paper I selected on Sunday advised me to help someone top off their gas tank. It was clearly for me. Why? Because I rarely go to the gas station but that very Sunday I needed to fill up my tank. All I kept thinking was…How am I going to do this? How would I know who to help? What if no one is at a pump near me. Someone is going to think I’m nuts. So as I pull in, I start eyeing people…that young man…no he’s leaving and so is that other person and that person is all the way over there. Then I see her. Out of town plates. I strike up small talk about whether she is visiting. She just moved here. When she turns to me, you can tell she’s not having a good morning. She shares the stress of her day so far with me. I walk around to her car to offer to assist with her gas bill as she is hanging up the pump. She declines and instead she asks for a hug. I hug her. Yes me…the one with personal space issues, especially with strangers. I then insist she take the money to help with her bill. She accepts and hugs me again. And I’m the one driving away with tears in my eyes. God is good!
On the way home from taking our daughter to college we stop for fuel at a station on North Carolina. As I wait for the kids to get back into the van I see a man walking around asking people for money, he had ran out of gas. As he walked over he looked as he wanted to ask me for help but looked away several times.
He did not look to be having any luck in getting cash for fuel. As he got closer to me he ask if I could give him a couple of dollars. I went over and ran my card and started putting fuel into his car. He keep telling me this really sad story about why he needed help and said he was embarrassed even to ask for help.
I told him Jesus offers forgiveness and salvation. We talked for a moment, it just felt as he needed someone to talk to and help him. So many people walked by him or just acted as they did not hear him when he spoke to them. As we ended I told him God Bless you and have a safe trip.
As I got back into the van not only did I feel God had used me that day, I felt that a seed had been planted with the man a stranger that I crossed paths with.
My children talked about how many people you see as you drive around that look like they need help. So in the end I think God planted alot of seeds using the this man and his hardships.
Edwin and I were eating dinner on Monday night at this very good Korean restaurant called Asahi. Our waitress had forgotten to serve us our appetizer dish, and halfway through the meal, we stopped her to ask if we were still getting the dish. She apologized profusely, and felt really sorry for making a mistake. We weren’t even upset that she had forgotten, so we wanted to show her some LOVE. After she came back with the check, I handed her a five dollar bill and told her “We just want to show you some love and give you this five dollars to top off your gas bill.” She seemed very grateful, and also said “God bless you. I hope you guys come again, so I can do the same for you.”
A friend of mine has a young mom friend who is seriously struggling with life. Her son’s father walked out on them before her son was even born, she lives in a teeny tiny trailer on the outskirts of Suffolk and lives off of a scant amount of food stamps and government assistance. Everytime I hear from her, she is lamenting her life and her position. I tend to ignore her and get annoyed by her “complaining.” At a recent church service, I realized I have no right at all to judge her. And my dismissing her lamentations, that’s exactly what I was doing. Judging her as inadequate. I see now that she is a strong, wonderful woman who has to struggle and fight for everything she has. She is truly amazing and I am not too sure I could survive if it were ME in her situation. After church, I withdrew $100 out of my bank account and sent it to her in the mail with this note: You are strong, you are beautiful and you are WONDERFULLY MADE. I write this anonymously because 1. I am completely ashamed of my previous thinking and 2. I do not want to risk her discovering my identity, I only want to bless her without making things “weird.” I feel that guerilla love is changing my life.
As I walked through the Wal-Mart parking lot this morning, carrying juice, cream and coffee syrups for Cafe Essential, I saw a woman looking closely at my car. As I passed her, she said to her teenage daughter, “Did you read that?” Without knowing whether she meant that in a good or bad way, I quickly said, “That’s my car, were you reading my bumper sticker?”. She stopped, turned around and said, “Yes, I love it!”. My bumper sticker is Romans 10:9 (yes, you have to go look it up). I just happened to have another in the trunk, so I asked her, “Would you like one?” (she did) I got these at the 2007 First Landing Commemoration and just within the last two weeks took the extra one off a bookshelf and put it in my trunk (for no reason that I knew of). We talked for about 10 minutes about several things… long enough for me to learn she goes to Atlantic Shores Baptist Church, to tell her about EC and also because of a twist in the conversation, for me to share my Compassion passion! She had never heard about Compassion International and was going to look up information about child sponsorship and share it with her Sunday School class. How cool would it be for many (currently) unsponsored children to be blessed because one day I “randomly” threw an extra bumper sticker in my car?
Oh, by the way, in my Wal-Mart bags were also the ingredients for treats to take to my Fire/Police Station… my assignment from the Love Basket! Had fun baking today too!
I have shared once already, but today was especially guerrilla for for me. Since the last service, I have made several “dates” with old friends or people I don’t typically hang out with. My neighbor and I (who were kind of friends) have become much closer and our families are becoming much closer as well. Yesterday I couldn’t even find my hubby and daughter because they were over playing with the kids. I have accepted birthday invites that I probably would have turned down previously and even got one long lost friend to get me tickets so I could take another friend (single mom of three that I don’t usually see) and her boys to the race track next week. All of that has made me feel like I was doing what I am supposed to do and it felt really good. But today, I get to feel fantastic. I was able to help someone, not because I was supposed to, but because I was led to. I felt like God had brought me this person so that I could feel what it was like to really fulfill a need. I had an employee that I am not particularly close to come to me today in fear that she would not be able to make many of her bills this month. Both her husband and her roommate were going to be without pay for 2 weeks. She has a little boy who starts kindergarten on Tuesday and was unable to finish his school shopping. She proceeded to tell me that he had already been without clothes that fit properly since they had planned to buy things for school. I knew I wanted to help, but was not sure in what way. I am hesitant to hand over cash to anyone, as I have burned by this in the past. There was also the issue that this person regularly has money issues do to some irresponsibility. But I can never stand to see a child go without, no matter what their parents do. So I asked her if she would grab her stuff and come to the store with me. Since she was actually supposed to be working, she was really confused. I didn’t tell her why, as I know she would have refused. I am pretty sure she thought we were picking up supplies for a flu clinic or photo promotion. When we got to the store, we headed to the kid’s clothing section. She asked me not to and then told me she owed me, to which I responded that I would never have done this with any intention of being repayed. I just wanted her little boy to have some new stuff and be able to be excited about back to school. We spent a little time together, chatting about what he likes and sizes and stuff. I finally even convinced her to leave the clearance rack. After about half an hour, we had a few outfits and a pretty good time and both got to leave feeling pretty good. She asked if her husband should bring her son to the store so that I could give him the clothes as a gift. I simply told her there was no need and that he should just enjoy them as new clothes, not a gift. And that she should just relax about her pressures and let God guide her through. What a great feeling!! God is Good!!
okay, this one is about my husband, but I’m so proud of him, I had to share it. My husband is normally PAINFULLY shy. He really doesn’t like to talk to people he doesn’t know. It’s a huge deal when he stops and chats with someone at church or accepts a lunch invitation from a coworker. So, what I am about to write is absolutely monumental: Tonight, he took our daughter to McDonald’s to get sundaes for dessert. He seemed to be taking a little longer and when he finally got back, I asked him what the hold up was. He told me he had bought four extra sundaes because, on his way out, he noticed that our neighbors and their two daughters were doing yardwork. I’m so amazed at not only his reaching out to them, but how the concept of guerilla love is even changing him. Wow!
We live on Ware Neck, a few houses down from the church. Over the past few weeks, we’ve noticed one house’s grass has been getting longer each week. We don’t even know the residents of that house, or what the situation is, but today I went down and cut the front lawn. Not a big deal, but that’s the thing about giving, right? Every little bit counts!
Jackson has really been grasping this concept of serving and always has a stack of the “You’ve been served” cards in his pocket. He tells me that it’s just in case we need to serve someone while we are out running errands:-)I asked him if he could help pick up the table after dinner. I came upstairs and started folding the laundry. After a while, Jackson came up with a card and said he had cleaned up everything because he wanted to serve me. He also cleaned up the entire downstairs! I know it’s a very small story but as a mom, I am so proud that my son has a heart to serve and is grasping this guerrilla love as well!
Reading all of these entries made me want to share “the other side” of Guerilla Love.
As my future husband and I were preparing to marry 12 years ago, we were young and looking for any odds and ends to furnish our apartment. We had hand me down furniture that our parents had given us, a coffee table we had purchased from a classified ad and we even traded a computer for a washer/dryer – ha (which we still have by the way – they work great)! The only item missing was a kitchen table. In just regular office chit chat, I mentioned this to a lady I had just began working with at my new job. She told me she happened to have a table for sale. My fiancé and I headed to her home, checked out the table and thought it was a steal for $200.00. Our wedding was approaching so we asked my co-worker and her husband if we could hold off on collecting the table once we had gotten our apartment, to which they agreed. Little did I know, the next week at my wedding shower this table was given to me as a gift by my co-worker. I couldn’t understand why someone I just met would do something so generous for me until I got to know this co-worker and her heart more. She would eventually become my mentor, prayer partner, best friend and so much more. As our friendship formed she helped water the seed of faith that had been placed in my childhood and showed me what it was like to have a true, meaningful relationship with Jesus. She invited me to church, prayed with me and throughout our friendship I have been able to witness a number of times how generous she and her husband are with others. This made me want to have what she did – a heart for showing others the love of Jesus. The Longmore’s have been with me at my baptism, in Bible study, and we sit next to one another nearly every Sunday at church. There are plenty of mornings where I sit in prayer and read my Bible at the very kitchen table they gave me 12 years ago. Who would have thought giving a young bride a kitchen table would lead her to an undying love for Christ? It was all part of His plan.
Way to love as Jesus loved…”A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35)
I am more used to giving my time rather than my money as we are relatively new Christians. I was not in church for a lot of the Guerrilla love series, so I missed the assignments. But, I wanted to try my hand at giving more in a monetary way.
We are on a tight budget, so normally I would wait until the end of the month to make sure that we had the money we needed as a family.
I decided to change that and give first. We took $50 cash and gave it to a young couple we thought could enjoy it. It felt weird and a little scary (as we have half the month left!!) but really good too!
I don’t know if God did this, but just 1 day later, today (Monday), I was in Kohl’s with one of those free $10 gift cards to use in the store. I picked out something exactly $10. As the cashier was ringing me up, I noticed that the card was not valid until Wednesday. I pointed that out to her, but she said that it was okay she would take it anyways. At the end of my free transaction, she handed back the gift card to me. I questioned her whether she should keep it for the till, but she said no it wasn’t needed and I could use it again.
I am still worried that this could cause trouble for her, so I am going to check in tomorrow to make sure it was okay. But, it seemed so weird that I would get a $10 item for free and then have the card to use again for another $10 item. That would be a $20 blessing in the same week! Kind of a cool coincidence (or is a Godidence as Steve would say)…
Something happened over labor day weekend that reminded me what a giving family a come from, and as Essential says: “giving’s a lifestyle, not a one time decision.” I only hope that some day I can live up to the precedent that my mother has set for me.
For some background, my mother works two to three jobs at any given time. This is only relevant to demonstrate that she works hard for what she has, which is a home in the inner city of a large metropolitan area many hours from Virginia Beach. Regular shootings and break-ins happen in her neighborhood, and her next-door neighbor was recently arrested on drug related charges. Needless to say, it’s not the nicest part of town.
For her, getting time off from several jobs is a difficult thing to juggle. But over labor day weekend, she put forth the effort to make sure she had Sunday and Monday off, because she was on a guerrilla love mission.
At one of her jobs, her boss mentioned the dire straight that her brother was in. As the story turns out, her boss’s brother and his wife were teachers in CA that were laid off during the recent financial crisis. Seeing no turnaround in sight for their school system, the family (him, he wife, and two daughters) decided to move back in with his mother in Cleveland, OH. Because they were being foreclosed on their CA home, they put all of their belongings into a storage facility that they hoped to keep up until they were able to get their own place in OH.
One night on their journey from CA to OH, they decided to check into a hotel and call it quits for the day of driving. Due to being tired or just not being in the best mindset to focus, the driver did not read the height requirement on the parking garage and proceeded to wreck a several thousand dollar bicycle and a luggage rack on the top of their SUV. For a family that tried to drive away from a nightmare, this trip was certainly turning into one.
Once the arrived in Ohio, they proceeded to check in on the storage facility in CA that they left all of their belongings in. After not being able to reach the storage facility for days, the family found out that their belongings had burned along with the entire storage facility in one of the recent forest fires in CA. Since the family intended on it being a short storage period, they didn’t insure their belongings and as a result the insurance company was forced to quote them by the pound for a total of approx 3k.
After such a tragic story, this is the part that moves me the most. My mothers initial reaction was to call time off (all unpaid) from all of her jobs in order to go to this family in Ohio. Further, she took furniture from her own house to load into her van to take there so that the family would at least have something to replace the furniture they lost in the CA fire. Finally, she took all of her extra money for the month that wasn’t going to mortgage, food, or other necessities and she bought the man’s daughter’s some art and school supplies so that they could be prepared for their first day of school in Ohio.
Not only does this story move me, but it gives me something to aspire to. I think this story speaks for itself: I have a lot to live up to with such an amazing mom. Bless the family you’re helping, but on top of that thank God for people like you, Mom!
So how far can something really cool like this go? We have had a few opportunities to help others and have really enjoyed it. However recently I was blindsided by someone else’s generosity. Two days ago I was heading to work; it was around 5:15 a.m. and I was at the Dunkin Donuts Drive Thru. As I tried to pay for my coffee and biscuit, the Dunkin Donuts’ employee told me that the person in front of me paid for my order. I was blown away! What a great way to start my day. So I carried it on and paid for the order for the person behind my truck. Wonder how long it went on that day? Cool huh?
Wow, are we still recording these stories? Hope we are “doing” even if we aren’t sharing about it. I haven’t seen any posted for a while but have recently been led to bless “strangers’ in several different places.
1. I was taking an early morning flight 24 hrs after our last snow. It was still cold and icy outside. While trying to decide what to get in the airport bagel/coffee shop, two female airport employees got in line. I waved them ahead because I was still wavering between cereal or a bagel. While their breakfast sandwiches were being prepared, one of them got a radio call that they were needed to de-ice a plane. Just after the alert, they were handed their sandwiches and the cashier was ringing them up. Without even thinking about it, I told the cashier to wait and add their items to my ticket. They both turned around and asked, “Are you sure”? I said, “Yes – it’s just a small way I want to share God’s love. You have a very hard job and I really appreciate what you do for our flying safety”! They both hugged me. Incidently, the cashier gave honored the employee discount on my entire purchase.
2. This one really puts me to shame. Several of us were dining in trendy, popular fast food restaurant. We gave a cursory, “Thank you Lord for a beautiful day, fun times together and this food” (or something like that)… no bowed heads, no closed eyes or humility. We were sincere, but we were not reverent in our praise or thanks to God. Shortly after, the two guys at the table next to us got their order number called. They really took the time to offer a visable, softly audible prayer and we were impressed. I guess that is just not something we see often enough. We started chatting with them and found out they were in college locally. Before leaving, we gave them $10 each towards another meal or whatever… telling them that their open show of faith was inspiring to us. They were surprised and said, “You don’t have to do this”. We said, “Yes we do, God said to bless you”!
3. As I went into the grocery store today, a man sat alone on the bench outside. He just had kind of a vacant look in his eyes and had a stack empty coffee sample cups from the store. I got the feeling he might be homeless. Inside I felt convicted to buy him something to eat. I picked out a simple meat and pasta dish from the prepare deli counter, added plastic cutlery from the salad bar and a bottle of water, then asked the cashier to bag it separately. When I went outside, the man was gone. Had he been made to move on by security or was he just a bored husband waiting for his wife to finish shopping. Should I just take the meal home for tomorrow’s lunch or was I supposed to feed someone? I uttered a simple prayer, asking that if God was leading me to buy this that He would lead me to who needed it. I took an alternate route home and saw a run down motel with a man outside working on a car. I came upon it suddenly and could not turn in, but drove a tiny bit further and decided to go back. I pulled up, rolled down my window and called out, “I have an extra dinner here, could you use some food?”. The man walked over and said, “You have leftover food to share with me?” I replied, “No, God told me to buy extra because someone would need it tonight.” He accepted the bag, thanked and “God blessed” me.
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We were on vacation and all week long Melissa and I have been trying to find someone to serve. At the car rental place there was a woman from NJ coming to visit her daughter. She had a problem with her debit card and wasn’t able to get a car. Melissa and I were able to help her get a car. She kept thanking us over and over.
The best part was when we were leaving, one of the people who worked at the car rental place stopped us and commented on the gesture. She said, the world needs more people like you. It gave me a chance to tell her about The Servant Leader and why we did what we did.
The whole experience really made our trip.
On Thursday my daughter and I cut our grass. Usually my husband does that when he gets home from work, but we wanted to give him a little treat.
Then I went over and cut my neighbor’s grass.
Nothing big, but I hope it made their day better.
On July 31 I went shopping at Ulta to replace some make up and skin care items. Upon reviewing the receipt at home later, I discovered that I had only been charged for 6 of the 8 items in the bag. Even though I knew I would report this to the store, it was very tempting to just write this off as my “lucky day”. When Pastor Steve issued the challenge Sunday to do something that would make people ask, “why are you doing this”, it was clear what my act would be. I returned to Ulta on Monday and the clerk didn’t even know how to handle such a thing. Both he and his manager commented that people don’t usually point out a mistake in their favor. I said, “Yes, I can understand that… I like a bargain as much as the next person and it was tempting. But for me, honoring God outweighs saving $25.00.” The clerk just nodded and his manager selected some samples to give me as a “reward”. Hopefully that made them think about what standards God would have for them too.
Here’s the unexpected twist that came about since then: This week I received a credit statement from my bank. While depositing 7 business checks I miscalculated the total and shorted myself $60.00. The bank found the error and credited my account! So in the end, I got back more than double what I reimbursed Ulta! Only God knows if my honesty was the catalyst for my bank finding my missing money. Definately a double blessing!
The impact we can have on the life of another never ceases to amaze us. We have a couple of young military families as neighbors. We reach out and make ourselves available especially when a spouse is deployed. Our neighbor (Jim) was getting ready for a deployment to Afganistan. He approached us for advice on replacing his kitchen floor as a gift to his wife Marti. Sonny said he would help him with it when he returned. What Jim didnt know was Sonny took Marti to pick out tile and replaced the floor as a gift prior to Jim’s return. When he returned home he could not understand why anyone would do that for them. We were able to share our faith and love for this family. We also go over and pray with them each time we know Jim is leaving. They expect and welcome this now!! Jim & Marti’s parents respectively have expressed to us during their visits, how much they appreciate us being next door and watching out for their kids. I guess we never know who is watching and the far reaching effects our actions may have in the lives of others. Now onto this weeks challenges
I went to starbucks today to ‘treat’ myself to a frapuccino to get my day started off well as I had woken up exhausted and drained, I had no idea how revilalised and alive I’d feel after my little trip!
I went in, ordered my coffee and said to the cashier, whatever the lady orders behind me, please just put it on my card. He was floored – stood there with his mouth open and said, “really?! that’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done here!” I replied and said well good, it’s just a small gesture to share God’s love. He then told the lady that her order was on me. She replied, “ha, I don’t think she agrees to that!” of course I said, “I do”, and she said, “you don’t have to.” I replied, “I know, but I’d like to,”. and so she thanked me, still rather confused and shocked at the act. I think it clicked a little later when she got her drink and banana bread and said ‘thank you so much’. The cashier, still smiling and amazed said, thank you, and handed me a card ‘next drink on us’.
And so my morning began with a smile….
It had been a tough fall. Believing that God had something else in store for me I had resigned my position in June 09. I was promised a severance package through December that actually stopped in Sept (they claimed shortage of funds). We were surviving month to month. I was contacted by a person I had done some consulting for two years previous. He asked if we could meet. He asked me a couple of questions and then wrote me a check for several hundred dollars. I asked him – “what are you doing? – you don’t owe me anything.” He replied – “God told me to bless you”. He had no idea we would not have enough to pay our bills that month. I told him “thank you – you were obedient to God – you HAVE blessed me!” At the end of the month when we paid our bills we had $7 extra! WOW! God is amazing!
Today was especially pleasing for me. In my attempt to use what I have been learning during this series, I was “out-niced” by another complete stranger. I was at work when one of my employees paged to let me know there was an “issue” with a customer. When I approached the area, there was an elderly man trying to read a tiny map to an address he didn’t know. Since he only knew the street name he needed to get to, and wasn’t really sure of that, I was able to find vague directions to where we thought he needed to get. After giving the first direction, he was already frustrated and confused. I decided I would leave work and have him follow me to the area he needed to be, so that way if anything were to happen or he was in the wrong area, I would be able to further assist him. I was on my way to my good deed, when in stepped another customer, who stated he was headed that way and would be glad to assist. As much as I wanted to help, this gentleman seemed equally as eager and I felt like it was for the very same reason. It really was the right thing to do. I hope to return soon with a story of how I was able to help more, but this story really touched me. I felt as if God wanted me to see that these things are not tasks we are assigned, but simply the right thing to do. It really is amazing how He speaks to us, but it eventually comes through loud and clear.
The months leading up to our move to Virginia Beach were trying. Those complaining about the economy and the lack of employment opportunities here obviously need to try living in a small town in rural Kentucky. If you’re not a teacher or nurse there are no opportunities for you…and even they were being laid off. I searched for a job for months. Application after application. Nothing. Sarah was working at a ham packaging factory, but her hours had been severely reduced. Needless to say, our financial situation wasn’t great.
It was tough, but I believed God would get us through. There were times Sarah and I were hungry, but we didn’t starve. There were times we didn’t have the money to buy gas to get to church. We continued tithing regardless of how large or small the check. We donated food to the benevolence ministry. I continued praying. I continued to believe.
Over the months our needs were met in different ways. There were a couple of instances when we were given some money from people in the church. At another time we were supplied with food and basic household items such as detergent. And on one particular occasion we were expecting a check to be “X” amount, but when we received it it was in fact double “X”. Why? No idea. God.
Although those were difficult times, God brought us through (as He’s promised to do). It was a humbling experience because I hate asking for help. It really strengthened my faith and He used PEOPLE to help us. Hopefully I’ll have the opportunity to serve others as I’ve been served.
On Sunday, I drew an assignment from the free basket. I had laughed at Rick as he told us not to trade what we got, and then I saw what I got and what my sister got and I laughed some more – I wanted to trade! To be honest, hers seemed easier. But I decided to stick with mine since Rick had explicitly told us not to trade.
My task was simply to knock on the door of a neighbor I didn’t know and introduce myself. I immediately imagined a rather awkward scene like this:
“Hi, I’m Emily. I live a couple doors down and I just wanted to introduce myself.” – me
“Hi, I’m ____. Nice to meet you.” – Neighbor
“Nice to meet you too.” – me
“chirp.” – cricket
“Welp, see ya later.” – me
Instead, this happened:
I arrived home from work today and noticed that the very neighbor I wanted to meet was just walking out the door on her way to the mailboxes down the street. I RAN into the house, grabbed the dog (his adorableness could break glacial ice), said a brief hello to my rather confused husband, and RAN back out. I attempted to look cool as I turned the corner. I breezily stopped and said hello and I was not awkward. This was a feat from God, people! My neighbor not only said hello back, she also told me that her husband is in the navy and they are new in town and she’d love to hang out some time. I met her fun four year old son and we chatted for a few minutes.
I can’t wait to follow through and spend some time with her and eventually invite her to Essential.
Theeeee end.
The little slip of paper I selected on Sunday advised me to help someone top off their gas tank. It was clearly for me. Why? Because I rarely go to the gas station but that very Sunday I needed to fill up my tank. All I kept thinking was…How am I going to do this? How would I know who to help? What if no one is at a pump near me. Someone is going to think I’m nuts. So as I pull in, I start eyeing people…that young man…no he’s leaving and so is that other person and that person is all the way over there. Then I see her. Out of town plates. I strike up small talk about whether she is visiting. She just moved here. When she turns to me, you can tell she’s not having a good morning. She shares the stress of her day so far with me. I walk around to her car to offer to assist with her gas bill as she is hanging up the pump. She declines and instead she asks for a hug. I hug her. Yes me…the one with personal space issues, especially with strangers. I then insist she take the money to help with her bill. She accepts and hugs me again. And I’m the one driving away with tears in my eyes. God is good!
On the way home from taking our daughter to college we stop for fuel at a station on North Carolina. As I wait for the kids to get back into the van I see a man walking around asking people for money, he had ran out of gas. As he walked over he looked as he wanted to ask me for help but looked away several times.
He did not look to be having any luck in getting cash for fuel. As he got closer to me he ask if I could give him a couple of dollars. I went over and ran my card and started putting fuel into his car. He keep telling me this really sad story about why he needed help and said he was embarrassed even to ask for help.
I told him Jesus offers forgiveness and salvation. We talked for a moment, it just felt as he needed someone to talk to and help him. So many people walked by him or just acted as they did not hear him when he spoke to them. As we ended I told him God Bless you and have a safe trip.
As I got back into the van not only did I feel God had used me that day, I felt that a seed had been planted with the man a stranger that I crossed paths with.
My children talked about how many people you see as you drive around that look like they need help. So in the end I think God planted alot of seeds using the this man and his hardships.
Edwin and I were eating dinner on Monday night at this very good Korean restaurant called Asahi. Our waitress had forgotten to serve us our appetizer dish, and halfway through the meal, we stopped her to ask if we were still getting the dish. She apologized profusely, and felt really sorry for making a mistake. We weren’t even upset that she had forgotten, so we wanted to show her some LOVE. After she came back with the check, I handed her a five dollar bill and told her “We just want to show you some love and give you this five dollars to top off your gas bill.” She seemed very grateful, and also said “God bless you. I hope you guys come again, so I can do the same for you.”
I love reading these stories!! Keep them coming!
A friend of mine has a young mom friend who is seriously struggling with life. Her son’s father walked out on them before her son was even born, she lives in a teeny tiny trailer on the outskirts of Suffolk and lives off of a scant amount of food stamps and government assistance. Everytime I hear from her, she is lamenting her life and her position. I tend to ignore her and get annoyed by her “complaining.” At a recent church service, I realized I have no right at all to judge her. And my dismissing her lamentations, that’s exactly what I was doing. Judging her as inadequate. I see now that she is a strong, wonderful woman who has to struggle and fight for everything she has. She is truly amazing and I am not too sure I could survive if it were ME in her situation. After church, I withdrew $100 out of my bank account and sent it to her in the mail with this note: You are strong, you are beautiful and you are WONDERFULLY MADE. I write this anonymously because 1. I am completely ashamed of my previous thinking and 2. I do not want to risk her discovering my identity, I only want to bless her without making things “weird.” I feel that guerilla love is changing my life.
As I walked through the Wal-Mart parking lot this morning, carrying juice, cream and coffee syrups for Cafe Essential, I saw a woman looking closely at my car. As I passed her, she said to her teenage daughter, “Did you read that?” Without knowing whether she meant that in a good or bad way, I quickly said, “That’s my car, were you reading my bumper sticker?”. She stopped, turned around and said, “Yes, I love it!”. My bumper sticker is Romans 10:9 (yes, you have to go look it up). I just happened to have another in the trunk, so I asked her, “Would you like one?” (she did) I got these at the 2007 First Landing Commemoration and just within the last two weeks took the extra one off a bookshelf and put it in my trunk (for no reason that I knew of). We talked for about 10 minutes about several things… long enough for me to learn she goes to Atlantic Shores Baptist Church, to tell her about EC and also because of a twist in the conversation, for me to share my Compassion passion! She had never heard about Compassion International and was going to look up information about child sponsorship and share it with her Sunday School class. How cool would it be for many (currently) unsponsored children to be blessed because one day I “randomly” threw an extra bumper sticker in my car?
Oh, by the way, in my Wal-Mart bags were also the ingredients for treats to take to my Fire/Police Station… my assignment from the Love Basket! Had fun baking today too!
I have shared once already, but today was especially guerrilla for for me. Since the last service, I have made several “dates” with old friends or people I don’t typically hang out with. My neighbor and I (who were kind of friends) have become much closer and our families are becoming much closer as well. Yesterday I couldn’t even find my hubby and daughter because they were over playing with the kids. I have accepted birthday invites that I probably would have turned down previously and even got one long lost friend to get me tickets so I could take another friend (single mom of three that I don’t usually see) and her boys to the race track next week. All of that has made me feel like I was doing what I am supposed to do and it felt really good. But today, I get to feel fantastic. I was able to help someone, not because I was supposed to, but because I was led to. I felt like God had brought me this person so that I could feel what it was like to really fulfill a need. I had an employee that I am not particularly close to come to me today in fear that she would not be able to make many of her bills this month. Both her husband and her roommate were going to be without pay for 2 weeks. She has a little boy who starts kindergarten on Tuesday and was unable to finish his school shopping. She proceeded to tell me that he had already been without clothes that fit properly since they had planned to buy things for school. I knew I wanted to help, but was not sure in what way. I am hesitant to hand over cash to anyone, as I have burned by this in the past. There was also the issue that this person regularly has money issues do to some irresponsibility. But I can never stand to see a child go without, no matter what their parents do. So I asked her if she would grab her stuff and come to the store with me. Since she was actually supposed to be working, she was really confused. I didn’t tell her why, as I know she would have refused. I am pretty sure she thought we were picking up supplies for a flu clinic or photo promotion. When we got to the store, we headed to the kid’s clothing section. She asked me not to and then told me she owed me, to which I responded that I would never have done this with any intention of being repayed. I just wanted her little boy to have some new stuff and be able to be excited about back to school. We spent a little time together, chatting about what he likes and sizes and stuff. I finally even convinced her to leave the clearance rack. After about half an hour, we had a few outfits and a pretty good time and both got to leave feeling pretty good. She asked if her husband should bring her son to the store so that I could give him the clothes as a gift. I simply told her there was no need and that he should just enjoy them as new clothes, not a gift. And that she should just relax about her pressures and let God guide her through. What a great feeling!! God is Good!!
okay, this one is about my husband, but I’m so proud of him, I had to share it. My husband is normally PAINFULLY shy. He really doesn’t like to talk to people he doesn’t know. It’s a huge deal when he stops and chats with someone at church or accepts a lunch invitation from a coworker. So, what I am about to write is absolutely monumental: Tonight, he took our daughter to McDonald’s to get sundaes for dessert. He seemed to be taking a little longer and when he finally got back, I asked him what the hold up was. He told me he had bought four extra sundaes because, on his way out, he noticed that our neighbors and their two daughters were doing yardwork. I’m so amazed at not only his reaching out to them, but how the concept of guerilla love is even changing him. Wow!
We live on Ware Neck, a few houses down from the church. Over the past few weeks, we’ve noticed one house’s grass has been getting longer each week. We don’t even know the residents of that house, or what the situation is, but today I went down and cut the front lawn. Not a big deal, but that’s the thing about giving, right? Every little bit counts!
Jackson has really been grasping this concept of serving and always has a stack of the “You’ve been served” cards in his pocket. He tells me that it’s just in case we need to serve someone while we are out running errands:-)I asked him if he could help pick up the table after dinner. I came upstairs and started folding the laundry. After a while, Jackson came up with a card and said he had cleaned up everything because he wanted to serve me. He also cleaned up the entire downstairs! I know it’s a very small story but as a mom, I am so proud that my son has a heart to serve and is grasping this guerrilla love as well!
Reading all of these entries made me want to share “the other side” of Guerilla Love.
As my future husband and I were preparing to marry 12 years ago, we were young and looking for any odds and ends to furnish our apartment. We had hand me down furniture that our parents had given us, a coffee table we had purchased from a classified ad and we even traded a computer for a washer/dryer – ha (which we still have by the way – they work great)! The only item missing was a kitchen table. In just regular office chit chat, I mentioned this to a lady I had just began working with at my new job. She told me she happened to have a table for sale. My fiancé and I headed to her home, checked out the table and thought it was a steal for $200.00. Our wedding was approaching so we asked my co-worker and her husband if we could hold off on collecting the table once we had gotten our apartment, to which they agreed. Little did I know, the next week at my wedding shower this table was given to me as a gift by my co-worker. I couldn’t understand why someone I just met would do something so generous for me until I got to know this co-worker and her heart more. She would eventually become my mentor, prayer partner, best friend and so much more. As our friendship formed she helped water the seed of faith that had been placed in my childhood and showed me what it was like to have a true, meaningful relationship with Jesus. She invited me to church, prayed with me and throughout our friendship I have been able to witness a number of times how generous she and her husband are with others. This made me want to have what she did – a heart for showing others the love of Jesus. The Longmore’s have been with me at my baptism, in Bible study, and we sit next to one another nearly every Sunday at church. There are plenty of mornings where I sit in prayer and read my Bible at the very kitchen table they gave me 12 years ago. Who would have thought giving a young bride a kitchen table would lead her to an undying love for Christ? It was all part of His plan.
I met a single mother at the mall and got to help her out a little bit. I love being addicted to giving!!!!!
Way to love as Jesus loved…”A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35)
Love Loud and Risk Often essential!
I am more used to giving my time rather than my money as we are relatively new Christians. I was not in church for a lot of the Guerrilla love series, so I missed the assignments. But, I wanted to try my hand at giving more in a monetary way.
We are on a tight budget, so normally I would wait until the end of the month to make sure that we had the money we needed as a family.
I decided to change that and give first. We took $50 cash and gave it to a young couple we thought could enjoy it. It felt weird and a little scary (as we have half the month left!!) but really good too!
I don’t know if God did this, but just 1 day later, today (Monday), I was in Kohl’s with one of those free $10 gift cards to use in the store. I picked out something exactly $10. As the cashier was ringing me up, I noticed that the card was not valid until Wednesday. I pointed that out to her, but she said that it was okay she would take it anyways. At the end of my free transaction, she handed back the gift card to me. I questioned her whether she should keep it for the till, but she said no it wasn’t needed and I could use it again.
I am still worried that this could cause trouble for her, so I am going to check in tomorrow to make sure it was okay. But, it seemed so weird that I would get a $10 item for free and then have the card to use again for another $10 item. That would be a $20 blessing in the same week! Kind of a cool coincidence (or is a Godidence as Steve would say)…
Something happened over labor day weekend that reminded me what a giving family a come from, and as Essential says: “giving’s a lifestyle, not a one time decision.” I only hope that some day I can live up to the precedent that my mother has set for me.
For some background, my mother works two to three jobs at any given time. This is only relevant to demonstrate that she works hard for what she has, which is a home in the inner city of a large metropolitan area many hours from Virginia Beach. Regular shootings and break-ins happen in her neighborhood, and her next-door neighbor was recently arrested on drug related charges. Needless to say, it’s not the nicest part of town.
For her, getting time off from several jobs is a difficult thing to juggle. But over labor day weekend, she put forth the effort to make sure she had Sunday and Monday off, because she was on a guerrilla love mission.
At one of her jobs, her boss mentioned the dire straight that her brother was in. As the story turns out, her boss’s brother and his wife were teachers in CA that were laid off during the recent financial crisis. Seeing no turnaround in sight for their school system, the family (him, he wife, and two daughters) decided to move back in with his mother in Cleveland, OH. Because they were being foreclosed on their CA home, they put all of their belongings into a storage facility that they hoped to keep up until they were able to get their own place in OH.
One night on their journey from CA to OH, they decided to check into a hotel and call it quits for the day of driving. Due to being tired or just not being in the best mindset to focus, the driver did not read the height requirement on the parking garage and proceeded to wreck a several thousand dollar bicycle and a luggage rack on the top of their SUV. For a family that tried to drive away from a nightmare, this trip was certainly turning into one.
Once the arrived in Ohio, they proceeded to check in on the storage facility in CA that they left all of their belongings in. After not being able to reach the storage facility for days, the family found out that their belongings had burned along with the entire storage facility in one of the recent forest fires in CA. Since the family intended on it being a short storage period, they didn’t insure their belongings and as a result the insurance company was forced to quote them by the pound for a total of approx 3k.
After such a tragic story, this is the part that moves me the most. My mothers initial reaction was to call time off (all unpaid) from all of her jobs in order to go to this family in Ohio. Further, she took furniture from her own house to load into her van to take there so that the family would at least have something to replace the furniture they lost in the CA fire. Finally, she took all of her extra money for the month that wasn’t going to mortgage, food, or other necessities and she bought the man’s daughter’s some art and school supplies so that they could be prepared for their first day of school in Ohio.
Not only does this story move me, but it gives me something to aspire to. I think this story speaks for itself: I have a lot to live up to with such an amazing mom. Bless the family you’re helping, but on top of that thank God for people like you, Mom!
So how far can something really cool like this go? We have had a few opportunities to help others and have really enjoyed it. However recently I was blindsided by someone else’s generosity. Two days ago I was heading to work; it was around 5:15 a.m. and I was at the Dunkin Donuts Drive Thru. As I tried to pay for my coffee and biscuit, the Dunkin Donuts’ employee told me that the person in front of me paid for my order. I was blown away! What a great way to start my day. So I carried it on and paid for the order for the person behind my truck. Wonder how long it went on that day? Cool huh?
Wow, are we still recording these stories? Hope we are “doing” even if we aren’t sharing about it. I haven’t seen any posted for a while but have recently been led to bless “strangers’ in several different places.
1. I was taking an early morning flight 24 hrs after our last snow. It was still cold and icy outside. While trying to decide what to get in the airport bagel/coffee shop, two female airport employees got in line. I waved them ahead because I was still wavering between cereal or a bagel. While their breakfast sandwiches were being prepared, one of them got a radio call that they were needed to de-ice a plane. Just after the alert, they were handed their sandwiches and the cashier was ringing them up. Without even thinking about it, I told the cashier to wait and add their items to my ticket. They both turned around and asked, “Are you sure”? I said, “Yes – it’s just a small way I want to share God’s love. You have a very hard job and I really appreciate what you do for our flying safety”! They both hugged me. Incidently, the cashier gave honored the employee discount on my entire purchase.
2. This one really puts me to shame. Several of us were dining in trendy, popular fast food restaurant. We gave a cursory, “Thank you Lord for a beautiful day, fun times together and this food” (or something like that)… no bowed heads, no closed eyes or humility. We were sincere, but we were not reverent in our praise or thanks to God. Shortly after, the two guys at the table next to us got their order number called. They really took the time to offer a visable, softly audible prayer and we were impressed. I guess that is just not something we see often enough. We started chatting with them and found out they were in college locally. Before leaving, we gave them $10 each towards another meal or whatever… telling them that their open show of faith was inspiring to us. They were surprised and said, “You don’t have to do this”. We said, “Yes we do, God said to bless you”!
3. As I went into the grocery store today, a man sat alone on the bench outside. He just had kind of a vacant look in his eyes and had a stack empty coffee sample cups from the store. I got the feeling he might be homeless. Inside I felt convicted to buy him something to eat. I picked out a simple meat and pasta dish from the prepare deli counter, added plastic cutlery from the salad bar and a bottle of water, then asked the cashier to bag it separately. When I went outside, the man was gone. Had he been made to move on by security or was he just a bored husband waiting for his wife to finish shopping. Should I just take the meal home for tomorrow’s lunch or was I supposed to feed someone? I uttered a simple prayer, asking that if God was leading me to buy this that He would lead me to who needed it. I took an alternate route home and saw a run down motel with a man outside working on a car. I came upon it suddenly and could not turn in, but drove a tiny bit further and decided to go back. I pulled up, rolled down my window and called out, “I have an extra dinner here, could you use some food?”. The man walked over and said, “You have leftover food to share with me?” I replied, “No, God told me to buy extra because someone would need it tonight.” He accepted the bag, thanked and “God blessed” me.
Each of these events felt very rewarding!
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