Unbelievable Re:Action...

        As you guys at Mountain Lake know, we challenged you over the past two weeks to perform as manr dandom acts of kindness as you could between now and Easter and give them a card that reads:

 

Now  Check out just one of the stories of a person who Re:Acted this  past week:

Dear Shawn & Friends:
        First I want to thank those of you responsible for being so sensitive and obedient to the word. For reminding the rest of us why we are here, and what we are suppose to be doing.....
Bottom line:  Loving God and Loving People.
        Second: Thank you for giving us (the church) the opportunity to express this to our community though these random acts of kindness.  My experiences have been priceless over the past two weeks.  I had to share them with you.
    1.Coffee at the Q.T. a lady wearing a school teachers shirt ....she looked at the card and after thanking me stated, "I have a friend who goes to church there....I'll have to try it out...I'm having to take off work today to visit my Dad in the hospital at Crawford Long.."...I told her I would say a special prayer for him she was VERY grateful.
    2.MORE coffee at he Q.T., a nurse...after I paid for her coffee she read the card and stated "I've been looking for a n ew chu rch, the one I attend now just doesn't do it for me" I told her of my "Churched out experience" she totally got it, and said she was so glad "I gave her the invitation, and was going to give it a shot!"
    3. Walked into Kroger, saw a lady with a stack of coupons in the check out line, almost ready to pay, something said...."she's next"....so I looked at her and said "don't ask, just don't pay", she looked puzzled, I handed her the random acts of kindness card, then handed the check out clerk my credit card, she rang up her coupons which came up to over $50 in discounts, and her groceries were only about that amount afterwards, after paying I started to walk off, I simply said have a great Easter... the lady was speechless...she just kept saying are you sure??....are you sure you want to do this??.. do you need the receipt for your church..for your taxes???...I said no...it's not like that...I just want to share some kindness.  She stopped me and started a conversati on.&nb sp; I found out she just moved her less than a year ago from up north, married, mother of 2,  not a lot of friends yet, she's Jewish, her husband is...well  "nothing" according to her..and doesn't sound like they attend church anywhere. I let her know we embrace all faiths, all people our philosophy is to love God and love People..... she seemed to get it.  We exchanged phone numbers.  I feel like I made a friend.
    4. The Landscaper: I left the guy who does our yard work and his helper a cold bottle of water, a tip and attached a random act of kindness card to each check.  It was so awesome to see the smiles on their faces when they got to their truck and read the cards, and noticed someone took time to care.
    5. At the gas pump: BJ's : A very sweet looking older lady with a Publix work apron on was pumping her gas, that same voice said: "she's next"..... At this point... I've just learned to listen and not ask questions....so I pulled in be side her, spoke, she commented on how cold it was, we talked about loving Florida, she said she moved here not too long ago from Ft. Lauderdale and missed it and the climate. I ask if she had paid for gas yet, she looked puzzled, but said no.  I said great, handed her my card, and said it's on me, I have a random act of kindness to share and this is for you.  She was so sweet she almost cried, she didn't know what to do, she tried to talk me out of it, insisted it was too much.  She looked at the card, and said, "I think my boss goes here....where is this church?"  I told here, told her how wonderful it is, and she could come dressed as she is, and we would love to have her and her family at Easter...the very best part is she reached out and gave me a great big hug.  Now that was PRICELESS.
    I LOVE Mountain Lake, I LOVE coming to church, I LOVE volunteering in Kraze every week.  Going to church is no longer a chore... it's an adventure.Can 't wait to see what's next.

In Him,
Penny Burklin
Kraze 1st grade Volunteer

Comments

[bree]

How inspiring...

God bless you Penny!

[Rindy Walton]

Awesome!! Way to go Penny!! :)

[Crystal]

Wow. Abbe, thanks for sharing your story! Your son running around saying, "Jewish!" just made my day. So cute. I hope I get to meet you this weekend!

[Abbe Nelson]

Hello:

I am the recipient of a lovely act of kindness from Penny. I was the lady in the Kroger Supermarket line. What a great begining to my week. On Saturday I saw the most wonderful rainbow after the storms we had. I would say the pot of gold at the end of it was Penny.

As for religion I grew up Jewish but that was more of a culture in my upbringing than a religion. I knew I was Jewish, but what was that. The first time I told my kids I was Jewish, my younger son thought the word sounded so funny he ran around saying JEWISH!!! HA HA....I was mortified... deciding to tell them again later...All I know from my mom was that we are Jewish, we don't celebrate Christmas and we don't believe Jesus is the Son of God...She always added, I'm sure Jesus was a very nice person and a great carpenter.

Now I've never been into organized religion mostly due to the hypocrites, the screaming preachers, the straight line rule following, and the intimidation of it. And honestly I am a bit uncomfortable when people are too nice to me....(Well I am from New Jersey.

But what I do go towards is the spiritual parts, the good parts, the respect of others religions and beliefs, the kind parts....and I so believe that what goes around comes around. I have always lived my life not by a book, but by my conscience and "Karma". I believe in being a person of my word and if I say it I will do it, I believe that the measure you give is the measure you receive.. of course never expecting that measure... but loving every minute of it when it comes. I know from my blessed life I must be doing ok and to top it off, I now have a new friend named Penny.

Sincerely.... Abbe

[tricia lovejoy]

Way to go, Penny! "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, that you love one another! -Jesus Thanks for being a shining example!