When I was newly married to Brett and we were both in school, working part-time as servers, and money was tight. Our bills were at the mercy of our tipping costumers. We did work very hard, but pay was never consistent. There was one week in particular that we were not going to have enough money to cover rent. I needed a miracle, I needed to make $200 in one night servering at Red Robin to cover rent..... yeah, if you have ever worked at Red Robin, that doesn't happen. So I just said a quick little prayer in my head about the money we needed to pay rent and went off to work.
It was a busy night, but nothing out of the ordinary for a Friday night. I got to see one of my favorite families, I still call them the "macaroni & cheese family" because I always gave their very hungry son, seconds on macaroni. I had not served them in a while, so it was a bright spot in my night. I remember their bill was around $32, so around $6 for a tip was what I was anticipating.
Until I saw that they gave me $108 for a tip!!!!!!!!!!!! What in the world! I mean, I know I worked hard as a server, but that just seemed above and beyond! Then the kind gentleman told me," $8 is a tip for your service and $100 is a gift from our family we have been wanting to give you for your wedding" :O)
Speechless....
My manager had to manually put the tip in because the computer wouldn't even allow for it. I will never forget him hollering down the Expo line to everyone, "JENNI GOODLIN, JUST GOT A $108 TIP!!" and my boss wasn't the nicest, nor the most encouraging person so him doing that was complete out of the ordinary.
Needless to say, I made Over $200 that night and had enough money to pay for rent.
I knew that the Lord had answered my prayer and that this nice gentleman has listened when the spirit inside him nudged him to be generous.
I will never EVER forget that. The way that family blessed Brett and I.
Do you ever have that nudging? That sense that giving a little may brighten or help someones day? That doing one little kind thing, could impact a persons life in ways you never expected. That maybe you should.......
I truly believe there are sooo many people out there with BIG hearts, and I want to encourage people, so since the holidays are coming along I have been milling over an idea......
I am going to pick 4 people who read my blog, 4 people to give a $5 gift card to (2 Target cards, a Starbucks & an Old Navy card (yes, all places I go frequently)), BUT, there is a big BUT, you cannot spend the gift card on yourself! I know it is not a lot, but sometime the little things make a big difference.
1)You must carry the gift card around and give it to someone you don't know. You give it when you have that nudging, or that inclining that someone else just might need it, or because someone has done something kind or out of there way for you. If you don't want to give a gift card directly you can use the money on the gift card to buy something for someone else.
2) You must then let me know (via email, phone call, blog post) how you gave it away by Dec 24th.
3) To get one of these extravagant $5gift cards you need to leave a comment on my blog about when someone has done something nice for you, or when you have done something nice for someone else, or something nice you would like to do
4) and hey, if you aren't 1 of the 4 people picked for a gift card you can still do it. Go get a gift card yourself and give it to someone you feel is deserving and then tell me about it.
5) You can grab the pay it forward button and encourage others to do the same
I wish I could remember their names, the macaroni and cheese family
Sometimes all the world needs is a little hope, and to know that people are still good
You have until Thursday November 8th 11:59 pm (mountain time) to leave a comment (that is only like 4 days away).
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After some major anxiety spells and health issues just a few months before my wedding, my mom gave me a $4 very small bear that was from the store Harry and David, The name of my father and my now husband, for Christmas. To this day I will never forget the $4 of peace she gave me that night. Assuring me that God would get us through it.
ReplyDeleteI love this, and I love that you still have the little bear and such a simple act was so meaningful!
DeleteYour story about when you were a waitress made me cry! That is just awesome!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea! Love it.
That is one amazing story! Our church does "You've been Gifted" cards around the holiday's reminding us to spread the love of Christ through thousand's of random acts of kindness. Can't wait to hear stories from the winners!
ReplyDeleteI love that idea too!
DeleteWhen we first got the girls, money was pretty tight. We weren't expecting two children out of the blue and definitely was not prepared with diapers for both of them and formula for P. I had cloth diapered Aiden but I only had 12 diapers as he was a toddler when we switched to cloth and I didn't need a whole lot. It wasn't enough to diaper both girls who were still in diapers. I wrote a blog post asking friends where I could find the cheapest possible diapers that were of good quality. My blog friend Amanda (whom I have never even met but love her dearly!) read the post and secretly arranged for some of her and my blog readers to get together and send me a care package. It arrived one day and I had absolutely no idea what it was. I opened it up and there were over 16 diapers, a ton of wipes, and a $20 gift card to a diaper boutique. They also included such a beautiful letter praising Joe and I for taking in the girls and telling me how much it meant to them to do this for us. I couldn't read it without crying and now even typing this, the tears are flowing again. I know first hand what it's like to receive an unexpected gift and it's such a great feeling! I love your waitress story and it made me smile!
ReplyDeletelove love love this story!
DeleteI really enjoyed reading your blog. Just last Sat. I bought lunch for the family that was behind me in the drive thru. It doesn't need to be much, but if we all paid it forward the world would be a better place. Thank you for sharing your story.
ReplyDeleteLong time reader - First time poster here! I love this idea. Been wanting to do something like this but never get my act together. Also struggling myself making ends meet - I know how the help from people can go so far and turn things around for them.
ReplyDeleteHuge fan of your blog! Thanks as always for the inspiration!
Love that you posted Charis! it is so fun to realize someone has been reading your blog for a long time when you had no idea, it brightened my day!
DeleteI love this idea!!! I started to incorporate "random acts of kindness" throughout the year but tend to ramp it up during the holidays (christmas and easter specifically). I've never done the $5 gift cards though....gonna try that!!
ReplyDeleteYou have a blog too Paige? I am realizing more and more that I think we would get a long pretty well, Rachel was totally right :O)
DeleteGod sure gave us a random act of kindness a few months back. We didnt know how we were going to pay our Mortgage for the month as bills were really tight with some different health issues my husband was going through and had to miss a fair amount of work. My husband went to call the bank to make a transfer of some of the money that was owed and they told us that the bill for the month was already paid. We have no Idea how it happened or who could havendone it..because no one knew about this account since it was newly opened with purchasing our house. We could only thank the Lord! It was pretty neat!
ReplyDeleteIt seems odd, but acts of kindness and charity happen frequently, and mostly seem inconsequential at the time, but guess they help balance rampant callousness. First one I remember is paying the bridge toll for the folks behind me; found $20.00 left in the shopping cart, tried to give to the grocery clerk which was refused, and gave it to the first homeless person I saw; in September,my 97 year old mom, after we passed a fellow on the street, paused and asked 'is he begging for money for food?' yes, mom 'well go back and give him three dollars'... hopefully It's a way of life to help those you see and not judge how or why they got there, but to help anyway.
ReplyDeleteOh! I know the most fun one--I flew to Phoenix and a library book (The Perfect Storm) had been left in the seat pocket; I got the library's address and returned the book (before it was overdue!), thanked them for a good read and then the library card holder sent me a $10.00 Starbucks card!
When Lance was born I had one of those spinal headaches. My head was pounding and I had never had so much pain in my life. The C-section didn't even compare on the pain scale. A nurse had heard about my headaches on the hospital floor. She was OFF of her shift for the night and did not even work in that wing of the hospital. She offered to give me a neck massage and upper shoulder massage to relieve my pain.
ReplyDeleteI was so shocked that a stranger would give her free time to me. This nurse went beyond her job requirements that night and even though that was over 28 years ago, I'm pretty sure that was the kindest thing a stranger has ever done for me in my hour of need.
Cherie
DeleteI love this story, because sometimes our time is our most valuable gift and this stranger gave it to you in such a great and needed way! And this is a great reminder that random acts of kindness don't have to involve money
It's me again. A few months ago I was having a really tough day. I went through the drive thru at the coffee house and was told that the person in front of me payed for my drink. I starting crying and the employee probably thought I was over reacting. That was a direct hug from God that day because I was weary and feeling so beaten down. So, even though it was just a cup of coffee it was the kindness that I needed to get me through.
ReplyDelete