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My Nurse's Special Birthday Gift

Last month it was my nurse's birthday. She has been caring for me since August 2006. Through the months, we have built an amazing bond. She has been there for me, and has helped me over so many hurdles its unbelievable. She's my rock in every way. I wanted to do something special for her birthday, to show her how much she means to me. Being confined to my bed, I can't go out shopping for a gift. So I was left to use my imagination and the materials in my room. But I was determined to make an unforgettable gift. I found an old shoe box, and got a bunch of my old girlie magazines, and spent 4 days cutting and pasting carefully selected items onto the box, creating an intricate collage. Each piece reflected in some way or another, our friendship. To finish it off, I put a photo of us ... Read Full Story >>

My $100 Kindness Mission

I submited a kindness idea to Helpothers.org $100 kindness contest and I won.  Armed with $100 and a mission - WOW! What an amazing week I just had! It started out last weekend - the first goal was to fill 20 “Smile Baggies” to give out. I had so much fun all Saturday picking out the items to buy. I'm a single mom of a teenager, so the opportunity to buy something without worrying about whether it would hurt our monthly budget made me feel like I had won the lottery! I picked out some practical items – a post-it note pad, pen, hand sanitizer wipes, and breath mints. But since it was a “smile baggie”, I also got some fun stuff too – microwave popcorn, hot cocoa, bubble gum, a smile stamp, and a small bottle of bubble bath. I spent Sunday night bagging all the goodies and attached the following letter to each bag: "HI! This ... Read Full Story >>

Wacky Smile Dolls (with Photos!)

I decided that I wanted something fun to leave with my smile cards...so I made these crazy looking dolls... designed with no other purpose in mind but to make the finder SMILE!  Each one is different and rather wacky in his/her own right!  Have a look at the photos below - what do you think?  If you stumbled upon one of these ladies sitting quietly, minding her own business, just waiting for the bus with a smile card attached... would you smile? Or say you might open your desk drawer to find her there rumaging through your belongings...wouldn't you just have to smile? The possibilities are endless! You just never know where one of these little Wacky Ladies might show up next!  But if you see one during your travels...I hope you'll share a smile with her! Silly, silly girls! Today I hid one in between some rocks at a garden at a historic site.  I ... Read Full Story >>

Breakfast For A Tired Mom

I went through a drive-through this morning to get breakfast.  I saw a woman behind me in line.  She looked really tired and had a couple of kids with her. 

I pulled up to the window and told the clerk I wanted to buy her breakfast and asked him to give her my Smile card.  He seemed moved and said he would.

As I was waiting to pull into traffic, I paused long enough to see the clerk hand the woman in the car behind me the card and point in my direction while she stared in disbelief.  

Then I pulled out and continued on my way, my car windows open, my hair blowing in the long-awaited cool breeze, my favorite music playing.  The morning seemed even sweeter than before.

Helping A Young Blind Man

The other day I was at Subway, grabbing lunch with some friends.  I received my order, sat it on a table, and went to the bathroom to wash my hands. On my way back I noticed a young man struggling to get his drink. He was spilling everything and making a mess. He was looking for the lids but reaching in the wrong trays and dropping straws and napkins everywhere.  As I got close to him I notice why. He was blind.  I saw that he had still not gotten his drink so I went over and offered to help. I asked him what drink he wanted. Then, instead of getting the drink for him, I took his hands and guided him through the process.  After we were done I took him by the hand and led him to the table. I asked him if he needed anything else and he said he was ... Read Full Story >>

The Day Star Trek Came Alive

When I was about five or so my favorite television show was Star Trek. Dr. Spock was clearly my favorite character and I listened to his advice with great seriousness. When I found out that  he was going to be signing autographs at TSS, I begged my mother to take me. To continue this story, you have to understand a little about my chaotic childhood. With rampant abuse, television, movies, and books were my only escape. I delved into them and  found places, people, and situations  both like my own and not. It gave this little girl hope. It helped to save me from the messiness of growing up in a dysfunctional household. So I hope you can imagine how important meeting "Spock" was to me. When the day came, I couldn't wait to get to the store! I dressed up in my favorite outfit, green of course, and waited, very impatiently, ... Read Full Story >>

A Pocketful of Hope

Here's a quick reminder to all of you when you get stuck in a moment --- that, somewhere out there, someone always comes along with a pocket full of hope. Today I spent all my coins and dollar bills on little deeds. I had skipped breakfast because the clock was ticking away too quickly.  On top of the mad rush, I forgot my lunch. I was going to buy my lunch along the way, but a person in need asked me if I could spare them some cash, so I decided that moment, to put them first. So, then later, that evening, I was heading home anxiously awaiting dinner, when I got a call from my Mom saying that she was stuck working the late night shift and wouldn't be able to make it to the market to pick up groceries. Even though there was no food in the house, I took a step back for a second, and I told my Mom not to worry as I would surely find myself something on which to munch. :)  While I was ... Read Full Story >>

Sharing a Mother's Pain

When I was a young girl, my mother and father divorced which devastated our finances.  My mother accepted food from an uncle that worked at a seafood packing plant that offered torn and shredded food for free as they could not sell it.  We ate a LOT of seafood.  I remember times when my mother would be in such despair trying to spread what little cash she had over the need for groceries to feed us and to this day it pains me to see others in that condition. One day this winter, I dropped into a store to buy a last minute item.  It was not my regular store, but it was the one I chose.  I think it was chosen for me.  Times this winter were very hard on us with the construction industry being so slow, but I felt compelled to do something about the woman and her ... Read Full Story >>

Best Day Of My Life

Today is the best day of my life!   I say this every day before I even get out of bed! Then I think what I am grateful for - a nice warm bed, heat in my house on this cold, wintery day, coffee, running water, a nice house, my family, my health, my kids, my hubby, his job, our town, etc. Then I get up and get on with my wonderful day!   As I drove into town I saw a lady my grandma knew walking along. I stopped and offered her a ride, which she gladly accepted. I dropped her off at her destination, less than five minutes away.   Next, I did my grocery shopping - and noticed someone waiting for a ride outside! I knew her face so I inquired if I could help. "Sure," she said. "My ride won't come for an hour and I could call and cancel when ... Read Full Story >>

Remembering an Anonymous Friend, 15 Years Later

I had just graduated college and couldnt find a job in Los Angeles. I ended up moving to Las Vegas but left my wife and two kids behind. I missed them all week, and I went home on most weekends to see them. Most of the time I rented a car because it was hard to get my beat up car over the pass to get to and from Vegas. Well, one time I decided to save money, and I took my car. It made it to California, but Sunday on the way back to Vegas it conked out in the broiling Nevada nigh. Not having any idea what I would do, this middle-aged angel drove up. He gave me some water, put in some coolant, and fiddled with the engine a bit. He got it started. I gave him the $12 I had in my wallet and he said he would ... Read Full Story >>

Angeldog

My wife and I were out on the perimeter road that runs around where we live. Two dog walkers passed by and we heard one of them say, "Never seen that dog around here before." We looked down the hill and saw an old black labrador stumbling painfully up the hill. It reached us, and its legs kinda fell out from under it.   We bent down, talked gently to the mutt and patted it. I checked and there was a collar. There was a phone number on the collar, but no one answered.   The dog was so painfully thin that there seemed nothing between its ribs and its pelvis but spine. It didn't have many teeth left and, well, it just seemed done.   My wife ran home to get some of our dog's food and mush it up in some milk while I tried to entice the dog to come along with me.   By the ... Read Full Story >>

Stories With the KeyMaker

Locksmith story ... from last afternoon. A friend of mine loses her purse and all the keys in it. She didn't have any copies of her key, so her white, 4-door car is idly stranded outside my house. I called up a locksmith, to create another key (apparently they can do it in ten minutes -- so much for the illusion of security). In thirty minutes of my phone call, a young man in his thirties rolls through with "Grant" written on the left side of his shirt and "AA Locks" on the right side. He asked me for proof of registration for the car and I told him it wasn't my car. After some hesitation he called his boss on the cell, to check if that's ok; eventually he said yes, figuring that I wasn't really the type of guy who would car-jack a 1992 Toyota Corolla. :) There's a ... Read Full Story >>

From My Son and Me

Four years ago, my 26 year-old son took his life. I visit him often at the cemetery and always bring fresh flowers to place at his grave. After a series of visits, I noticed that the woman next to him never has any flowers. So on my last visit, I brought flowers and placed them at her grave site, from my son and me.

The Moment That Didn't Need Words

When Julie and I were on our honeymoon in the Dominican Republic we were mostly cocooned in one of those all-inclusive resorts. (The image of paradise was slightly altered when I discovered that the far reaches of the beach had armed guards!) We went on a coach trip across the island to visit the capitol city (where Columbus first landed in the New World, I think.) We had a good day and were well fleeced as tourists should be. On the way back we were driving through a jungle area. The kind of place where women still wash clothes on the rocks by the rivers. The driver pulled over and let a matronly lady, loaded down with bags, climb on board. She sat well away from us tourists and never said a word. But an hour into the journey she developed one of those really annoying, dry, tickly coughs. They were really ... Read Full Story >>

A Litte Extra Gratitude at Dairy Queen

As I was standing in line for my secret weekend indulgence, a medium dairy queen cone. I watched the two teens behind the counter working frantically to get through the long line of hungry customers. Usually there are one or two customers but today, to my surprise, there were more than ten. So many, in fact, that I wondered if it was worth the wait. There was a tip jar in the middle of the counter and though most orders were for three or more concoctions no one was leaving a tip. The order before mine was a big one! Eight "Blizzards," all sizes, flavors, etc, to go. The gal worked efficiently, cheerfully filling the orders and delivering them with a smile and a "Have a nice day!" Then came my tiny order. "I would like a medium cone." The gal smiled and said, "Is that all?"  "Yep", was my reply. I had handed her a twenty ... Read Full Story >>

A Flourishing "Free" Market

We are a small town of less than 4,000 people in the mountains of Ecuador . Recently our new organic farmers cooperative started hosting one afternoon a week to exchange our produce and seeds among ourselves...no money changes hands. As of this past week we started to lay our stuff on wooden tables set in a portal on the main square, we hold hands around the table to give thanks to our ancestors who used to do this in ancient times in this country, and we pray in thanks, either out loud or silently according to each one's own spiritual beliefs. Then comes the fun... each person around the table tells and shows what she brought.  Each one, in turn, goes around picking and taking what he NEEDS to either feed him/herself and family, and to add to their garden that which is missing. This last Thursday was one such day and some ... Read Full Story >>

Doggie Day Care

One of my pleasures has always been to make friends out of people I encounter on a regular basis.  This has sometimes led to wonderful unexpected gifts beyond the obvious happiness of setting up outposts of friends.  10 years ago, I was a "career professional" working as a programmer in a bank.  Like many people, I was unhappy in my job, feeling completely unfulfilled, and occasionally having anxiety attacks about my life passing by without meaning. Banks have a strange corporate structure, doling out the title of "Vice President" rather liberally to miscellaneous positions of middling authority.  My job had been bestowed with this aggrandizement.  It not only seemed ridiculous to me, but became a source of irritation when I'd watch someone greet me respectfully, then turn around and respond dismissively to a fellow employee.  In reaction to this obvious inequity, I made it a point to be even more respectful towards ... Read Full Story >>

160 Dresses

We are five women who wanted to make a difference in the life of our local girls. 

A Gracious Gesture on an Incredibly Special Day

About a year ago, my husband had just come back from a 7 month tour in Iraq. My daughter and I had gone up to see him get off the bus at 6am, and he didn't get there until about 7-7:30am.   After a couple hours of work he had to do, we were ready to go home.  On the way home, my husband suggested that we go to International House of Pancakes (IHoP) to grab something to eat. We didn't have that much money left, as it was right before payday, but I decided it would be worth it anyway, since he hadn't gotten to eat anything like that for months. We went in and sat down in a crowded resturant. He was still wearing his ACU's (his army clothes) and I was clinging to him and still crying a little bit, just so happy to have him home. We sat ... Read Full Story >>

Listening to God's Voice

Several years ago, while on the job, I heard one of my co-workers saying that even after we would get our paycheck on that Friday, she would not have enough money left to buy groceries for her two boys and herself.  (Like me, she was a single mom at the time.)

When we got our paychecks that Friday, I counted up all my bills and had $30 left for my two children and myself, to last till the next week's paycheck.  God told me to give her $20 of my $30, but a part of me worried, "What will I do for my two children?"  Well, I listened to my inner voice and placed a $20 bill in an envelope, sealed it and put it in her van driver's seat, without her knowing it (to this day, she still doesn't know where it came from!).

About two years later, I needed money "very badly" and had been praying for the Lord's help and when I went out to my car one day, there was an envelope in the driver's seat of my car.  It had $50!

God is faithful to those who take the time to listen to that subtle voice inside us.