Many Things...

I have been compiling a list of things that I wanted to write about in my daily life. They are thoughts or situations that have affected me this last week or so and are rattling around in my head. I have a feeling this may be a long post so bear with me please.

One of the things I have been thinking about is the constant random opportunities to bless people I come in contact with wherever I am at. A smile, a kind word, an opportunity to help; these are some of the many ways it is so easy to make a difference in some one's life. And rest assured that when you reach out to affect change in someone then you are sure to feel blessed as well.

Recently I was having a pretty intense day. I felt pretty frayed in attitude and tight on time. I was walking around one of our local everything type stores to check off a few needed items and ended up zoning out in an area where my shopping cart was blocking much of the isle. A woman gently asked if she could get by and I apologized for not paying attention. About a minute later we ran into one another on a different isle and my cart was once again blocking her passage. I smiled and apologized. Then, a third time we rounded corners and started laughing at blocking each other. I thanked her for being so gracious with me and told her to have a blessed day as I continued my shopping. She paused and left but then came back with urgency. She said, "No I thought YOU were the one being gracious. Thank YOU for not being frustrated with ME. YOU have grace that flows off of you and it changed my evening."  Then she simply smiled and left.

I believe it is so important to call people by name. No matter where I meet people, whether it be the gas station attendant, the waitress or the postal worker, I make it a point to read their name tag and let them know they matter.

I had forgotten that an action like that can affect more than just one person until my grand daughter made a statement to me a couple of weeks ago. We were treating all the kids and grand kids to breakfast at a little diner on our last trip through Spokane. 12 hungry people were at our table ordering food and with 3 kiddos under 5 years of age you can imagine the energy level surrounding us. After all of our orders were taken  I made it a point to look at the name tag of our waitress and say, "Sarah, thank you so much for your patience with us. You are amazing at what you do." She faltered, blushed and then smiled as she left to turn in our order.

My 5 year old grand daughter looked up at me with huge eyes and mouth gaping. Knowing I lived a 6 hour drive away from them made her quite shocked that I could be so personal with our waitress.  She tugged on my sleeve and whispered loudly into my ear, "Grandma.....you KNOW her?" I laughed and embraced the opportunity to explain how easy it is to make people feel special. I said, "Doesn't it make you feel more special when I use your name and say 'Brynn, I sure do love you', instead of, 'Hey you, I love you'. Everyone deserves to feel that specialness and maybe our waitress hasn't felt that yet today."

I think I will stop here for now and share more this afternoon. My Angel-girl spent the night here last night and I hear her stirring.

Have an amazing destiny filled day and know you are loved.