Keep Hoppin'...

Today was the day we collected for our RAOK (Random Acts of Kindess) Day.  I have been promoting this to all of my 721 Facebook friends for a couple of weeks now.  I have asked for donations as simple as old newspapers or bottles of bleach or shampoo.  Natalie, her friend Eve, and I set up at the entrance of the church parking lot this evening at 6:50 and we waited...and waited...and waited...
The only donation we received was a couple of pairs of socks from our Pastor.  I was so disgusted.  I was so discouraged.  See...in my naivity, I had such high hopes for this for my daughter.  I really wanted her to leave the church knowing that a 9 year old girl really CAN make a difference in the world. 
At 7:54 pm, I told the girls it was time to go ahead and pack up.  We hadn't received any donations except for the socks and I was getting tired and still had to hit the grocery store for ice cream for the party tomorrow.  They were persistant, however.  They said they wanted to stay a little while longer.  A few minutes later, a member of our church stopped by and brought us a huge bag of newspapers to take to the shelter. 
Then...a few minutes later...a car pulled in.  It was a "beater" as my husband would call an older car with probably 200k miles on it.  The lady inside looked as if maybe she didn't have a lot.  She had a toddler strapped in a carseat in the back.  She asked the girls what they were doing.  They tried to explain to her and then I stepped in and started to explain, the whole time thinking to myself...this lady is probably thinking we're handing out stuff and wants in on it.  It was a terrible superficial judgement that I made.  We told her what all we were collecting and she sort of giggled and said, "Well I don't have any of that with me, but if I give you all a cash donation, you will get some of those things with it?"  I couldn't believe it.  There I was thinking that as soon as this young lady found out what we were doing that she would exit stage left pronto.  The kind lady then proceeded to tell us how much she loved animals and she knew the shelter helped so many animals and what a great organization SafeHome is.  She told us that she had to utilize SafeHome a while back, so it was very dear to her heart.  Then she unzipped her change purse and handed Natalie a $20 bill.  Tears welled up in my eyes and I knew this was all supposed to happen.  It never fails.  Every.single.time.  I was planning on getting bleach and laundry detergent and dog food.  That's all.  I wasn't expecting blessings. 
And we were blessed. 
After the lady left, Natalie said, "Mom, I wanted to cry when she was telling us that."  I smiled and said, "I did."  And so it begins...a spirit for giving; Seeing the circle of being in need and then getting back on your feet and giving back. 
A few minutes after that happened, JoAnn & Marty Forbes walked up with a bag of donations for SafeHomes and I remembered when Marty's mom, Pat "Punk" Kegley Tabor brought me a big food donation at the church when I was collecting food.  What a nice family reputation it is to have a reputation for giving. 
The United Methodist Men were meeting tonight at our church.  Our Pastor came outside right before we left and said to the girls, "Come in here and bring your fliers."  The girls did just that.  Our Pastor's husband, Pastor Jim had already heard about what Nat was doing so he quickly told the men that for her birthday, Natalie was giving to others and he challenged them to give to help the worthy causes.  When we left the church, Natalie had collected a bag of newspapers, 2 pairs of socks, a bag of donations for SafeHome and $96 in cash.  When we got back home, our neighbor threw in $4 to make it an even $100.  Natalie will split that and make a $50 monetary donation to the Humane Society and a $50 donation to SafeHomes.  I'm not disgusted anymore.  I'm not discouraged.  Through tears, I can say that I am ENCOURAGED.  I'm so very encouraged.  Keep hoppin Nat :)