Kindness is contagious!

It has been a few years since I shared on this blog. My life is good and has been full of blessings.

This has been a hard winter in our valley. Never in my lifetime have I seen this much snow fall consecutively in our area. The storms just keep coming. Schools have been closed for five days and stores have closed early.We have been cautioned repeatedly not to drive unless necessary and to slow down if we do. There have been several power outages and folks have been without heat for hours. God bless our Idaho Power linemen who go out into the frigid weather to repair those lines. I have whispered more prayers for their safety than ever before. We have ice dams in our gutters and heavy snow weighting our roofs.

This year I have joined several neighbors as we have repeatedly cleaned off our own driveways and sidewalks. We helped those who are unable to do their own and have pushed one another’s cars to assist them on their way. It has warmed my heart to see the outpouring of help amongst my neighbors; neighbors helping neighbors. One thing the snow has brought is camaraderie. It has been fun to lean on our snow shovels and visit with one another after the shoveling is completed.

I am not one to get easily discouraged but I must admit to a pity party or two these last few weeks. Yesterday I spent hours chipping away the ice with my husband’s garden shovel.The handle is worn smooth with indentations where his hands once gripped it. The blade is small from the many times it has been sharpened with a grinder. It is my prized possession. Once I dislodged the ice I could pick it up with the snow shovel. It was heavy. My mounds of snow are getting so tall it is hard for me to throw the snow over to the other side. My emotions were getting the best of me but I managed to get the sidewalks and garage slab cleaned before the end of the day. As I worked I watched the neighbor boys run up and down the streets on the four wheeler squealing with joy. I smiled thinking, “I remember feeling like that.”

This morning I awoke at five a.m.. I planned to go to Winco for additional Icemelt. I have been calling all over the valley and no one has any. Winco gets their shipments in a 5:30 a.m. and my intent was to go early and bring some home for myself and my neighbors. Then I looked outside and saw we had another two inches of snow and it was coming down hard. The news again told how treacherous the road conditions were so I skipped my trip to Winco. My friends went later and guess what; Winco’s shipment did not come in due to the road conditions. I decided I needed more coffee before I tackled the new snowfall. I would wait until it stopped snowing.

Later in the morning the snow turned to rain. I had gone out for a short while checking the drains and trying to divert the water away from the house. I came inside cold and wet. I looked out my front window and noticed that part of my sidewalk was cleared. I opened the door prepared to yell at my neighbors, Orville and Doris for being out in those conditions. They have been faithful to me. To my surprise it wasn’t them but a father and his two sons who live in the end of our cul-de-sac. I went outside to thank them and came inside to bake a batch of thank you cookies. I commend parents who teach their children the value of helping others with no rewards expected.  If truth were told there might have been a tear or two that slide down my cheek while inside the sanctity of my own home.

Have you ever been the recipient of goodness that just left your heart smiling? Perhaps you are the one who shared the goodness and it made your own heart smile. At any rate, those young boys touched me deeply this morning. My heart was smiling so brightly it found it’s way to my face. It renewed my faith in young people.

Kindness is contagious and the world needs more of it. It is up to you and I to put it there. Kindness; pass it on. It can put a smile on someone’s HEART and maybe your own will smile a little too.

PS Now I need to find someone with a grinder. The blade on my husband’s shovel doesn’t look like it once did.