Sometimes God uses spectacles. An overly bright star. A cast of angels. A talking donkey. A burning bush.
Sometimes, he makes us the spectacle. In this season, radical kindness would definitely get some attention. It’s a spectacle God can use.
What if we were to make spectacles of ourselves for Jesus this month? And what if you picked a few random acts of kindness and used them to bring attention to your love for Jesus? What if you made the love of Jesus your message and what if you made those random acts your voice?
I want to share 20 easy ideas. Choose two or three to accomplish by Christmas.
1. Pay for the person behind you in line at the drive-through of your choice.
2. Leave a present on top of the mailbox for your mail carrier (label well!).
3. Bake and deliver goodies to someone who would appreciate the pick-me-up.
4. Donate food to a food pantry (how about Mosaic’s Pantry?).
5. Keep a stash of candy canes with notes tied on in your purse, and hand them out to anyone you see who might need a little treat — cashiers, deli workers, taxi drivers…
6. Leave quarters and a note at a laundromat.
7. Leave a note and the correct amount of change on a vending machine.
8. Ask the librarians if you can pay someone else’s past due fee.
9. Buy a gift card for groceries, then turn around and hand it to the next person in line.
10. Leave an extra big tip at a restaurant.
11. Leave an encouraging message in sidewalk chalk on a neighbor’s driveway.
12. Figure out something tiny, nice, and unexpected to do for your co-workers.
13. Bake something for your significant other to share with his/her co-workers.
14. Leave a positive comment on every blog you frequent this month. Trust me, it will make their day, especially the smaller ones.
15. Buy boxes of crayons at a dollar store and give them to kids.
16. Clean out your closet and donate gently-used items to appropriate organizations.
17. Collect all of the travel-size toiletries you have lying around and deliver them to a homeless shelter or battered women’s shelter (or Bags and Hugs).
18. Bring Christmas flowers (like a poinsettia) to a nursing home and ask the front desk staff which resident would most appreciate them.
19. Volunteer to babysit for a particularly sleep-deprived friend or relative.
20. Do a chore for someone else in your household.
In what ways are you planning this season to make light shine in the darkness?
