Yesterday with my 2:21 work dismissal, I was unexpectedly blessed with free time. Since I hadn't even planned to be in the area, there really wasn't that much that I wanted to do. I had this afternoon off, and I didn't know what to do with it.

I wandered around the library for awhile, picked up a couple books. I was hoping for a movie to catch my attention, but none did (yah, if you're paying $4 at Blockbuster instead of 25 cents at the library, you should adjust your ways). At home I looked online for any matinées showing; again nothing was interesting me.

Then I started thinking how I've been blessed with this afternoon off, but many others have not. Including my sister-in-law, who I knew was having a really rough and stressful day at work. I'd never been to her office. I could see it for the first time, AND surprise her and hopefully make the rest of her day a little bit better. This met my personal requirement of having Two Reasons to go somewhere (I'll get into this some other time), so I found directions off the internet and headed out.

I stopped to pick up a bouquet of fresh flowers, coffee, and cookies. I thought those would be 3 good things to help brighten her afternoon. And it worked. She was surprised, and she told me later that it was definitely the highlight of her day and that the rest of the afternoon went much better.

There's a song that we sometimes sing at the mega-church. And I have to give credit where credit is due - I think we got it from Mars Hill (a mega church in/near Grand Rapids).

It's all about how we've been blessed and loved and changed for the better, but it doesn't stop there. It says that with all these good things that have happened to us, we should share it with others. Not just a pay it forward/do a random act of kindness thing, but more so that are called to do this. This is our responsibility. Ok, maybe the song doesn't say all that, but that's what I believe.

Here's the chorus:

I have been blessed - now I wanna be a blessing.
I have been loved - now I wanna bring love.
I've been invited - I wanna share the invitation.
I have been changed - to bring change, to bring change.

I encourage you to take your blessings and share them with others. Some of you may be thinking right now, "What blessings? I haven't been blessed." And that's because others haven't been doing their job. So, go, be a blessing. People need it.