Tag: people

Helping one can help many

Jennifred Jones

Yesterday, at church, our pastor prayed for all the people hurt or affected in any way by the recent horrific earthquake in Nepal.

Today as I looked at pictures of distraught people desperately looking for missing members of their families, I remembered several Asian Indians who own the gas station in my neighborhood. I have met and talked with them at other times and knew they had family over in that area, and the thought came that I should check about their families.

When I asked if his family was alright, the owner said, “Yes, thank God!” I was immediately relieved, but noticed the look of gravity on his face because of the effect on their home country land.

Returning home, I thought, “I cannot go over there and help physically, I know of no immediate way to get relief to the region, what can I do to help?”

Besides praying for them, the thought occurred to bake something and take to them as a small tangible token of compassion and care on my behalf for them and their suffering people.

They like spicy foods, so my cranberry-orange scones sounded like a good recipe to use, and I took them back to the gas station while they were still warm from the oven, and hoped there wouldn’t be anybody in line… so I could talk to them.

The store looked empty inside and I handed him my cranberry scone gift and told him that since I couldn’t go over there to help and didn’t know what else to do to ease the suffering, I was giving them this small token to let them know I cared about them and their people.

It was a heartfelt moment between two people, two different nationalities, bonding as fellow human beings with like concerns about family, life, suffering and compassion.

He was touched, I felt like crying just from the emotion of the moment, and as I turned to leave, I noticed a line of people had come in behind me, no doubt observing the whole thing. I tried quietly to get out the door.

It was back to business as usual.

Only the love of God can cause something beautiful to come from something ugly like an earthquake.

Antidote for People-Pain

Jennifred Jones

There is a cure, a genuine–yes it will work–cure for people-pain. It is not easy to take, but after you start taking it, it becomes easier and easier and you begin to feel better and better!!!….literally you will FEEL BETTER!

I don’t know how it works, but it does…actually it’s because we’re wired that way, by God Himself Who knows just what we need.

Who would have thought…it goes contrary to all popular opinion and human reason. Yet it will work.

What is it?

Do something good for somebody…anybody, it doesn’t matter if it’s the one who hurt you…sometimes that person is long gone, perhaps even died, but we can still do good to someone and watch how it transforms us and others.

If we can just remember that– it will save us a lot of sorrow, grief and wasted time!

Instead of returning evil for evil, bad for bad, trying to get even, we start a new trend to conquer the bad, by doing something good!

If you’ve had a lot of bad done to you, or even seen a lot of bad done, you can change the temperature in your world just by doing something good….a smile, holding the door open for someone…(ladies there is nothing wrong with us holding the door open for a man), letting another driver go in front of you in traffic, baking muffins for your neighbor, writing a letter of encouragement, calling grandmother, even pulling a weed out of your neighbors sidewalk!

Doing good overcomes bad. Doing good multiplies good. Doing good makes you feel good, and there is nothing wrong with feeling good about doing good.

We were not made to feel miserable, but to have joy, peace and happiness in our lives. It begins and continues by doing good.

Somebody vs Nobody

Jennifred Jones

Last post, I related a story about the man coming into the office angry and trying to deposit his ‘people-pain’ on me. I mentioned how my response was kind and friendly even though his actions were undeserving; but isn’t that the way life is? None of us deserve good treatment, but we are obligated to treat all humans with respect and kindness, being an example of what we’d like to see from them. “Do unto others as you would like done unto you.” Sometimes that is very hard to remember, much less do. But it is a possible goal…it won’t be done perfectly or often enough, but it is a goal I’m striving for. Back to the gentleman previously mentioned. As an experiment in people, I have treated him very kindly since that experience and guess what? He came into the office another time and I wished him a good day and he said with his back to me, “Same to you.” What a surprise!!! That was the most positive thing I’d heard from him ever! The next time he came in, I wished him a good day again and this time he replied, “Have a good day.” Again still not facing me when he spoke, but this was progress none-the-less! He has been in several more times since and his demeanor is changing for the better each time. I think some people have in their minds from previous episodes in their lives, thought patterns that they have to act, react or think and respond in certain ways. They don’t see other options. By treating them with kindness and respect and just being good to them, I believe it raises the bar in their lives by raising the bar in their own eyes of who they are. They begin to see themselves as someone worth something to someone else and because they are now a somebody and not a nobody, they begin to treat others as somebodies and not nobodies. Try this experiment in you own life and see what good results they bring.