To live and love others


Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Today I want to honor a man, a man with a heart after helping others. This man wasn’t trying to be in the spotlight, he just had a heart after God and for showing God’s love to others. He tried to live by Matthew 25:40 and in the twenty years that I knew him, he did. The verse shows us how we should help others as if we were helping Jesus Himself.

The man was named Sandy and he was a kind, gentle, patient and compassionate man, always ready with a smile, a handshake and an encouraging word.

When having lunch with him one day, I overheard the waitress say something to Sandy and found out that he had paid for the dinner of some military service members he had seen in the restaurant. He didn’t want them to know it was him. He just wanted to brighten their day and thank them for their service.

Another memory I have of Sandy is from a few years ago when it was almost Christmas. We wanted to get something special as a present for him. That year he told us that he didn’t need anything but he would like us to give a donation to the Waterfront Rescue Mission in his name because it was doing good and important work helping the homeless.

Recently, I heard another story about Sandy. His neighbor’s husband was gone on a deployment and things kept going wrong for her. Sandy helped unstop her toilet, killed the fire ants in her yard, and helped her get a new car battery and get her car fixed.

You could never outgive Sandy.  He believed in giving cheerfully to his church, his family, his friends and even strangers. He truly embodied the Christian ideal of serving others.

Sandy was such a wonderful model for us and we will miss his smile and his actions in helping others.

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Post comments here. Thank you for joining in the discussion!

Popular posts from this blog

2013 Holiday Gifts That Give List

Image
Ten Gifts Under $50 That Give Three Ways for the Holidays – to the Receiver, the Giver, and a Charity! When was shopping ever this much fun? I am releasing my Gifts That Give List just in time for the holidays and I’m keeping each item under $50. It’s a way to let you know how many retailers are making it easier to be charitable than ever before and that there are some amazing gifts out there that help causes in America and around the world. 1.        Make-a-Wish Star Bracelet for $30.00. I love gifts you can personalize and this one comes with a star attached that you can have engraved. You can get it at Things Remembered which will be giving a minimum of $150,000 to the Make-a-Wish Foundation which grants wishes to terminally ill children. 2.       Handmade glass ornament for $29.50. Use it at Christmas or any time hanging in a tree or window where it can be seen by all. Net proceeds from the ornament will go to fund the ASPCA helping America’s animal population via com
Read more

Remember

Going into Memorial Day, I’m preparing for a busy weekend. I’m having some friends over for a cookout on Sunday and then going canoeing with some others on Monday. We’re putting up an aboveground pool to play in all summer today since yesterday was my son’s last day of school.   During all this activity we don’t want to forget to honor our fallen soldiers.   My son says he wants to say a few words at the cookout and asked me to find a verse that he can use in his “speech.”   We were at his grandmother’s house when he asked me and she mentioned John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it?   Having the courage to put your life on the line for others.   We honor those that have done that for us this Monday.   We must never forget them. May is also Older Americans Month , and I think they’re a population that can also be easily forgotten so I’d like to share an organization with you that both hono
Read more

Volunteer Vacations: Where There's a Will, There's a Way

Have you been looking forward to your vacation for months? Going to a new place in the states or to another country?   As of right now, we’re not planning to take a vacation unless it’s a weekend trip nearby, but I would love one day to do a volunteer vacation.   You can go as an individual, group or even as a family. Like any vacation, you get to see a new place but with volunteer vacations you can also make a positive impact on that place.   The opportunities range widely, from tapping maple syrup at a Native American reservation in America to constructing a health center in Kenya. The Volunteer Family provides a list of companies that give families an opportunity to do a project together.   That’s the kind of trip I would really like to take. Another good source is Volunteer Guide because it categorizes the type of projects so you can choose between animal welfare, helping children, community development, environmental protection, health and safety or poverty and
Read more