Grace's journey

February 4th

Often small acts of service are all that is required to lift and bless another.

When I saw this saying, I wondered how small was small. At first I was thinking, "Ok, so I can take a meal to a family, that's small." And yes, that could be something that I could do, but I think it can go even smaller than that. One thing that I love to do, and have ALWAYS done is to smile at people. I especially like smiling at elderly people, because they just light up so much! Whether I'm at the store, the mall, or library, I'm smiling at people. And I just think that if I had someone smile at me, especially on a hard day, it would help me get happy. It would take my mind off my hard day, and it would make my heart feel lighter that someone saw me and was willing to give me a smile. So there are such small things we can do that lift another so much. Another thing I've started doing is writing little cards and mailing them. In the days of internet and email, the fun of getting a snail mail has dissipated with the desire for the message to get to whoever you're sending it too to get there quickly. But I LOVE receiving snail mail. And I don't get a lot of it. But when I do, I'm all smiles, happy as can be because someone spent a small amount of time to think about me, and write a letter. So whether it's to a friend that just lost her young daughter or another friend who's baby has down syndrome, I write. I ask them how they are doing, let them know how we are, and (usually) I put in there that I'm bringing them some sort of food, treat, or gift! Because I've learned that if you ask, "do you need anything?" it's usually a no. But when I put in there, "I'm bringing Spaghetti and a loaf of bread to you on Tuesday Night" they aren't able to say that!!! They have to accept, and have always been grateful. I love helping others, even in those small and simple ways. Now, though, my train of thought needs to go to the family and how I can do those small things for them. Many times I overlook the ones right here with me.


Amanda