ANONYMOUS ACTS OF KINDNESS!

October 15, 2018

The author of this story asked to remain anonymous. He and his family are regular attenders at Calvary Chapel French Valley and they are actively involved in the life of the church.

"God had put me in that position...to provide me the opportunity to show His love to my neighbors "

I was out working in my front yard one Saturday afternoon, which is not actually much of a front yard at the moment as I have not gotten around to planting grass again - just maintaining weed-less dirt. I overheard two other neighbors across the street who are always upset about the state of other yards around them that are not as perfectly manicured as theirs. They were discussing the yard of a lady across the street and to the right of mine, I don’t believe they know her, other than by the condition of her yard. They were discussing calling the city on her because her yard had been neglected and weeds had grown to about 2-3 feet in height.

When I moved into the neighborhood about 8 years earlier, the first neighbors to introduce themselves were this woman and her husband. There were always waving to us, stopping to talk with us, and baking for us during the holidays. Her husband was always out maintaining their yard and it was beautiful. He passed away about 3 years ago of brain cancer, and ever since her yard has been neglected and has died off and become overgrown.

I knew she had gone to visit her son out of state for a month or so as she had asked me to keep an eye on her house while she was away due to the fact that squatters had taken up residence in the neighborhood once before in the house of one of the gentlemen talking about her now owns.

As I saw this situation, God had put me in that position, in ear shot of those two gentlemen, to provide me the opportunity to show His love to my neighbors and to this widow who was out of state and had asked me to watch her house. So, I seized this opportunity, I grabbed my yard tools from my garage and went over and began removing all the weeds and debris from her yard as well. I never had any intention of letting her know that I did it when she returned home, but other neighbors had seen me doing it and must have told her when she returned from her trip. I was getting into my car to go somewhere, when she approached my car window with tears in her eyes, to thank me and let me know how much it meant to her.

Pastor Rick's thoughts: Sometimes the smallest act of kindness can have a tremendous impact upon someone's life. What little thing could you do today that would help someone see the love and light of Jesus Christ?

What's your story?

It is stories like this that help people understand what we are about as a church. What's your story? How has the church been a part of your life, marriage, or family? Everyone has a story, and by telling your story you will be helping others decide if they might find a place in the family of God at Calvary Chapel French Valley. Real people being real with each other.