Going The Extra Mile

  I love it when my grandchildren visit and give hugs!  That’s just what they do!  Often it’s in the coming and the going and I’m all about the hugs.  It seems regardless of any kind of ‘anything’ that could have gone wrong during my day, those hugs just melt my heart!  It’s also heartwarming to find a nice note in my mailbox from a random friend and just because!  It’s nice to know I was thought of!

Valentine’s Day is next week and people across the globe are searching for the perfect gift for their loved ones.  It varies from person to person, family to family given traditions, cultures and even funds.

But being kind is always a good gift!  It doesn’t need to be pricey, or elegant, grand or large.  Giving of yourself is often the best gift of all.   The formula for being kind is really simple.  Ask yourself what might make them smile?  What might they need this very moment or day?  Try to accommodate. 

Giving the gift of homemade food is always a good option; as is being mindful of their likes and dislikes, opening a door for them, sharing yourself in friendly conversation, remembering their birthday or other special days, sharing a conversation over coffee or tea, or having a shoulder to 'cry' on,  and lots of other options.  You need only be creative!

Going the extra mile, however, might include sending a ‘thinking of you’ card which you’ve personalized with a note or other decoration and certainly writing their name in it or even making them one by hand.  When you’re out to lunch with someone, buy them dessert; if you find a book they might like, purchase it and write a note in the front; when you offer to pray for someone absolutely do it—and offer to pray with them right then.   Buy (or make) a small gift they might like and wrap it in pretty paper before giving it to them.  The options can go on depending on your creativity!

Jesus was always doing kind things for people.  He taught them, he listened to their questions and answered them, and sometimes he went the extra mile.  He healed the lame, gave eyesight to the blind man, raised the dead, fed 5,000 and ultimately gave his life for whole world, offering us the free gift of salvation.  

What an amazing example Jesus is.  Even now, He goes the extra mile.  When we ask for something he still listens and responds.  Often times we get caught up in our expectations (or lack of) and miss the gifts God has for us.  Our finite minds can’t possibly comprehend the possibilities of God plans and surprises for us, his children.  Sometimes he answers in ways that is so much greater than our perceived options; and so spectacular we couldn’t even have  imagined it.

` I encourage you over the next couple weeks, to get creative and be kind; and beyond that, go the extra mile and see if you as ‘giver’ and whomever as the 'recipient', aren’t both blessed.  Let others see Jesus in you!

Photo Credit:  free pics of loving