When I cook and bake, I always make enough to share. That's who we are. That's what we've done for over 10 years. From baking cookies for Lisa's team members and sending her to work with extra dinners and baked goods to making meals for neighbor friends and making meals to assist those who have fallen on hard times or had surgery, we just do it.
We expect nothing in return.
However.
At the most unexpected times, we are surprised with random acts of kindness too. Over the past week, this has happened.
Last week, Lisa went to a popular coffee chain for lattes before work. Since Lisa's work schedule changed back in January, this has become a tradition once a week. She leaves a few minutes early. Grabs the lattes. Delivers mine on the way to work.
This time around, a recipient of my baked goods and meals, many times, was there. He offered to pay for Lisa's latte. He didn't know that she was getting mine too. Lisa gently declined and explained. He didn't care. He was more than happy to pay for both.
"Your wife feeds me from time to time. I'm more than happy to pay for her latte too."
When Lisa dropped my latte off, she told me the story. I sported a smile from ear to ear. That made my day. It made Lisa's day too.
A day or so later, our doorbell rang. It was late morning. No one ever rings our doorbell. I was in the shower. Lisa was in the living room. She answered the door.
When I got out of the shower, Lisa told me to take a peek at the big box on our kitchen counter. What? Really? What happened when I was in the shower for a mere 10 minutes?
There was a big box on our counter. Filled with fresh seasonal produce. Sweet potatoes. White potatoes. Carrots. Cantaloupe.
Another recipient of our baked goods and food had been gifted a lot of produce. He had more than enough for himself. He knew that we go through a lot of what he had lots of extras of. For our kids. For us.
There I was.
Standing in our kitchen. My hair was wrapped in a towel. My body was wrapped in a beach towel. Admiring the box of produce. Lots of produce. That our kids love. That we love.
Yeah.
How do I even put that into words? Those random acts of kindness. For us. At the most unexpected moments.
We are not going to question it.
We are simply going to enjoy it and appreciate it.
And. More so. We are going to pay it forward. That is what I am doing now.
I will be spending my entire evening prepping a few big homemade meals for a family going through something right now.
No details are needed.
They will be all set for the next few days.
For all those reading this...
Be kind.
Our world is a little bit crazy right now.
It will probably be getting crazier.
You don't have to do big things that cost a lot of money.
Do what you can.
Whether it's a gift card or a platter of cookies or a meal.
Just do it.
Reflect back to when a human or two did something for you. Out of the blue. Paid for your coffee or made you a meal.
Etc...
Pay it forward.
No comments:
Post a Comment