Friday, March 5, 2010

Pay it Forward...

It's been a little while since I have had this feeling. You know the feeling you get when someone completely unexpectedly does something so sweet, simple, and purely from the goodness of their heart! I am so grateful for these moments. God knew we needed extra thoughtful people on earth to help remind us of his love.

Today a friend I work with brought me a Diet Coke. You are probably thinking .....what is the big deal it's just a Diet Coke. This friend is someone I work with and usually see on a daily basis but we don't always visit. We aren't extremely close but we are friends. I believe that made the gesture mean even more to me.

Yesterday while I was getting water for the water table we were visiting and I was saying how good a Diet Coke sounded. She reminded me of the beverage machine in the Rec. Lobby but it is a Pepsi machine. I shared that I wasn't a big Pepsi fan that actually I would rather nothing if it had to be Diet Pepsi. She felt the same way. She is also a Coke fan. We talked about it a little more and had a very casual conversation. Well this morning at school I was visiting with another teacher in the office and she walked by and said I dropped off a Diet Coke for you in your room. You would have thought someone gave me a million dollars with the expression on my face. I explained that I wanted to bring a diet coke with my coffee this morning but all I had at home was a 1 liter so it didn't work out. I was so excited! I thanked her over and over again. I carried my Diet Coke around like a prized possession and shared the story with anyone willing to listen. As I sat and waited for my first parent conference I drank my special Diet Coke and thought more about how sweet it was of her to bring it. She previously shared that she preferred Coke rather than diet Coke so I began to wonder did she have the diet Coke at her house or did she make a special trip to pick it up. It made the delightful drink even more special. As I finished the diet coke I thought about how much the simple gesture meant to me and I thought about "paying it forward" to someone else. In between parent conferences I ran to Walgreen's to pick up a few things. As I was checking out I noticed that the trail mix I was buying was on sale $2/4. I grabbed another bag (I also had a coupon for $1 off 2 bags LOL). I remembered that my next parent coming for a conference shared how much she liked trail mix on FB one day. I eagerly anticipated her conference so I could "pay it forward". After our conference I handed her the bag and smiled and said just because. She smiled in return and thanked me. Her reaction showed that she was just a surprised and appreciative as I was. We talked about how much we liked trail mix and whether it was okay to snack on or not (fat and calorie content). As she left I felt the same happy feeling I felt when my generous friend brought me the diet coke. I honestly believe that was the best diet coke I have had in a very long time!

Thank you Connie for an amazing Diet Coke!!

3 comments:

  1. thanks so much for sharing this. it's so uplifting:) how are things at slp?

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  2. Oh,sweet Kimberly! You brought tears to my eyes. It too was the best trail mix I have ever had! In fact, I was teased at work because I almost ate the entire bag in one setting. Thank you again for the trail mix and I too will "pay it forward"!

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  3. Hi Brooke....Things are really well at SLP! (Just about flower pot time..lol) The devil has certainly tried to slip in with all the "unexpectedness" that has surrounded us all this year but he continues to be shunned!!! Can't believe the year is almost over....How about you? Your first year of Kindergarten is just about over. :)

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