Recently I have both experienced blessings from others. Those random acts of kindness, given by complete strangers, just because. I ordered a meal in the drive-thru at Chick-fil-A last week and as I hastily got off of my phone, the attendant handed me a manila business card from Triad Baptist Church that indicated that they had paid for my meal as a Christmas blessing. I thought "wow!", what a great way to brighten someones day. Just earlier that morning, I had purchased enough coffees at my favorite drive-thru, Blend and Brew in Kernersville, and received a "free" coffee. Upon exiting, I saw a man sitting on their picnic table under an umbrella. He was nicely dressed but had mud on his knees and it was raining, so I asked him if I could give him my free coffee. He thanked me and kindly declined. Needless to say, I still received a blessing to see him smile.
On Sunday, we were headed back from soccer and had the opportunity to give a beggar on a corner a "power bar" as a snack. The comment was made that he probably didn't want the food, he probably wanted money. I immediately recalled what one of my disciple class members had said the previous week. They indicated that it is only your responsibility to GIVE the blessing, what the person does with it after that is up to them. I have thought often of that statement this week and realized that too often we look for immediate gratification or an outpouring of thanks from the receiver. Who if you think about it, never ASKED for what we thought was the blessing to begin with. We look for award and accolade to legitimize our perceived sacrifice, when in fact, we should expect nothing, except the knowledge that God will use that blessing in some way, shape or fashion that may never be revealed to our eyes here on Earth.
How difficult is it as a human to not want acknowledgment of our good deeds when this is what we have been raised on? It does feel good to be recognized, believe me, I know; but as I mature I realize that it feels good just to be able to have the blessings from God to be able to bless someone else. That in itself, is recognition enough...most of the time! I still love to see my name in lights...I'll have to work on that! :)
Brooke
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