Sometimes it’s hard to get in the holiday spirit when the weather is rainy, dreary, and just plain blah. Yesterday as I fought a monsoon rainfall leaving church, I thought to myself, “Uggggh!” The rain and wind were so powerful, there were literally sheets of rain pounding the street in front of me as I returned home, already drenched.
It would have been too easy to just shut my front door and stay inside all day. Yes, I had errands to run, but who wants to shop for groceries and Christmas gifts in this mess?
But, you know me. I’m a master of creating my own motivation. I went inside, grabbed my raincoat and headed back into the rain.
As I was looking through the various items in my purse (searching for Chapstick, actually), I came across a $10 off coupon from JCPenney. Whoa! $10 of free stuff?! That’s awesome! No sooner had the thought hit my brain about the free merchandise, I knew exactly what I wanted to do… bless someone else with a $10 surprise.
Forget the grocery store – I went straight to JCPenney, searching for “the one”… that person God nudges for me to bless. I walked around the various departments, looking at people, watching, waiting… and then I saw her. A mom about my age, her teenage daughter nearby, hands full of clothes overflowing her arms. Yes! She was the one who needed this coupon! I went straight to her and gently touched her arm as she looked me in the eyes with a smile.
“Hi… I have a coupon I’m not going to use. It’s worth $10… would you like to have it?” I didn’t take the time to explain that I deliberately drove to this store for the sole purpose of blessing her; I simply gave her the coupon and my business card and figured she would find out later if she looked up this blog.
“Thank you so much!” she replied and our exchange was done. We walked in separate directions, but my heart was happy with joy, knowing I had blessed someone else.
I even wrapped up my day by returning a wayward shopping cart stranded in the grocery store parking lot. Sometimes the blessings occur with no one to see. 🙂
On those dreary days where you feel unmotivated… think about blessing someone else instead! I promise it will change your perspective and make you smile! Be blessed my friends! Merry Christmas!
