During this time in our world where the energy is tumultuous and the hearts of people are hardening around us, I want to brighten your day with a good news story I captured this week.
I’ve got to brag on my daughter’s school for inspiring the idea behind the Blessing Bags. The school encouraged the students to bring in a jar of peanut butter or jelly. Pre-K through early grades were assigned the decorating of lunch sacks. The older grades were assembled in the dozens turning out the best looking peanut butter and jelly sandwiches you’d ever seen.
These packed lunches would be distributed out to the homeless community in partnership with a local food bank.
Often times as a mother, I am reminded in the early morning hours when I am making my daughters lunch for school how blessed I am to lay hands over her nourishment for the day. I cherish the days where I get to be involved in her nourishment physically, spiritually, and emotionally. One day she will be out navigating the world the way we as adults are now.
Some days we are terrified of where things are heading. We grieve the losses of people, because we are all people and we are all connected. Others may be carrying the weight of sickness, despair, or heavy burden that feels hard to name.
Let this act of love by this small local school be a reminder of the good that exists in the world. It is small acts of kindness like this that make the most impactful ripples. Ripples that travel much farther than our own eye can see.
This leads to the next layer of the story that proves my point above.
We get home from school one night this week and my daughter is pacing around the house looking frantically for a box that contained a stow away of toiletries we had acquired a couple years back. The materials included things like toothbrushes, combs, bars of soap, deodorant, etc.
Her mission was to find these bags, fill them with the items, and add a little love letter she personally wrote. This took us well into dinner time. Before you knew it, both my dad and I were lined up at the table sealing bags and following her command.
It can get really heavy trying to carry around the weight of the world. I urge you to take a moment to set your weight to the side. Zip a bag up or make a PB&J for someone who didn’t have a lunch today.
When you put your hands and heart to work, something good will naturally grow. There is always a need outside of our own that we can turn our focus to. I am convinced, the more that we practice taking our eyes off our of own burdens, the easier they are to release.
Try a local food bank, church, or grab an extra meal for the person you see on the corner of the street every week. It can be as simple as making a few PB&J’s to have in the car for your next drive, donation clothes in the back seat, or extra hygiene items in a baggy. These acts of service to others in need will create a ripple that impacts far beyond what you can see.
When our children see the example of love set outside of our home, their capacity to love grows. The world is in dyer need of more love right now. May this story be a reminder to spread a little love beyond the confines of your house.
Find a local food bank in Pensacola!
Local Pulse Staff Writer, Makenna Curtis
