Be A Blessing

When my husband goes to a certain Dunkin Donuts, he usually orders the same thing.
Since I don’t drink coffee and have never even tried it, I couldn’t tell you what he orders.
After going there a few times and ordering the same thing, they know him.
He is a regular customer.

He never uses the drive-thru window.
He always walks inside.
One day he came out smiling a huge grin.
They had my coffee ready for me, he said in unbelief.

They must have seen me park the car, he said, still trying to figure it out.
They had my coffee ready for me, he repeated.
All the way home he still could not believe that the coffee was ready and just as he liked it.
It really made his day.

There is a certain Mediterranean restaurant that I love.
They have a salad that I order frequently.
It is healthy and delicious.
It is an Aegean Salad with delicious salmon on the top.

Since I go to that restaurant with my daughters or with friends, I know the people by name.
When I call and order my favorite salad on a night my husband is traveling, they remember.
Perhaps it is my voice, or perhaps my number comes up on the screen, but they know me.
They not only know me, they know what salad I want and how I would like it prepared.

I know how my husband feels.
One afternoon I went there with my youngest daughter and the waitress ordered for me.
Is that right? She asked.
It is, I said grateful for her memory bur wondering at the same time if I was too predictable.

It is the little things that bless us.
It is the unexpected things that catch us by surprise and make our day.
It is the paying forward that is done in order to reciprocate.
It is being blessed and being a blessing.

It doesn’t take much to be a blessing.
Someone blessed me in the grocery store parking lot.
After I put all of my groceries in the back of my mini van, I felt a tug on my shopping cart.
How about if I put the cart back for you? A man asked me as he was walking into the store.

He took my cart and pushed it towards the covered area where the used carts are kept.
It saved me some steps.
It blessed me tremendously.
I left the parking lot smiling.

Being a blessing does not mean you must do a magnanimous thing.
Being a blessing means that you go out of your way, even a little bit, for someone else.
Sometimes we fail to bless because we think that our idea is too insignificant.
Nothing is too small to be a blessing and often the smallest thing means the most.

I came upon a video that I watched from beginning to end.
It took place in a grocery store.
A hidden camera captured all the action.
The action consisted of blessing upon blessing.

The blessing was unexpected.
The blessing caught the recipient off guard.
The blessing made a few people cry.
The blessing affirmed the goodness of God.

Customers were at the cash register ready to pay for their groceries.
The same cashier waited on each person.
Young, old, black, white; blessings do not discriminate.
Each person was speechless; some were emotional.

God is good, the cashier said unashamedly.
Many agreed.
She equated the blessing the received to God.
All good gifts come from Him.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. (James 1:17)

Every good and perfect gift is from God.
We who bless others are just an extension of His hands.
We who are blessed by others are the recipients of His gift.
When we bless others we must give God the glory; without Him blessings would be impossible.

The reactions of the people in the video are priceless.
Some alluded to hard situations in their life but the blessing changed their focus.
The cashier never failed to give God the glory.
People were changed; they left the store much different from when they came in.

What if there was a hidden camera that followed us around each day?
What would we discover during the playback?
How may blessings did we miss in our preoccupation with other things?
How many opportunities did we miss to bless another person?

We live out our days often unaware of God’s activity.
We often go about our daily tasks on autopilot.
We fail to really see the needs in others and the needs in ourselves.
Blessings are simple circumstances that God uses to wake us up.

We begin to take notice of His activity that has been there all along.
We begin to see the simplicity of blessing another person.
We begin to experience the delight in the blessing that is bestowed on us.
We begin to become aware of grace.

Amazing grace is all around us.
And we miss it.
We do not take advantage of opportunities to bless others.
We wonder why we feel so restless and frustrated.

It is much simpler than we make it out to be.
We are the ones that make it difficult.
We are the ones who fail to bless.
Pray for God to show you the possibilities of being His hands and feet to others.

Really listen to another person.
Put an arm around someone’s shoulders and tell them, God is good.
Wipe away their tears.
Help them to carry their burdens.

Lord, make me a blessing today.