Friday, August 22, 2008

Serendipity


It's been a hectic day. My poor little girl is sick again. I took her to the doctor at lunchtime and learned that it's croup caused by a virus and will probably gets worse before it gets better. I think my daughter is an illness magnet, but I'm counting my blessings that she's never had anything more serious.

Anyway, I was in need of some extra encouragement today, and I got some delivered in a brown box on my front step. The package was from pediped, and I couldn't wait to open it and check out the cute new shoes I'd ordered for Jodi.

I quickly grew frustrated, though, when I saw two boxes inside the package. I knew I only ordered one pair of shoes, so why had they sent me two? I figured it was probably a mistake or more likely a scam to get me to buy more and wondered how much time and money it would cost to return the unwanted pair. But then I was humbled by a small card that had fallen out of the package. "Serendipity" it said and on the back explained that I'd been randomly selected to receive a free pair of shoes in the same size I'd ordered but in a different (but just as cute!) style. No strings attached, just a request to pass on an act of kindness like I'd just been shown and an email address in case I'd like to send in my story of what I did to "pay it forward."

Wow. I sure am impressed and will want to order more from this company. (Not to mention that I'm giving them some great advertisement on this blog!) I have no idea if pediped is owned by a Christian, but they gave me a good challenge to be more like Jesus. I have been blessed immeasurably by Him. So how am I blessing others in return?

I know I've heard of authors randomly giving free books away to encourage others. Or maybe you've been the recipient. If you have a good story of a serendipitous event, post a comment and share it with us!

I hope you have a weekend full of little blessings!

8 comments:

Janet Spaeth said...

How totally cool is THAT? What a neat idea!

I think I speak for all of us (right, everybody?) when I say we need to see these new shoes on your chickadee--when she gets better, although new shoes might just do the trick!

Give her a hug for all of us! Hope she feels better soon. ("Illness magnet"--LOL!)

Carrie Turansky said...

Wow, that's great! What a blessings.

I hope your daughter is feeling better soon.

Blessings,
Carrie

Rachel Overton said...

That is awesome!! And isn't God cool-He knew you needed that little touch of "serendipity" today, too. I LOVE it when He does those tiny little unexpected things. He shows He does think of us constantly, planning for our good. Wow! Before we even think to ask--He provides. What an amazing God we serve.

Wandering Writer said...

On the bright side, maybe she'll build up her immunities and will be the healthiest kid in school. It's tough when they are little though.

The neatest random act of kindness we received a few years ago was on the night of our anniversary. We went to a really nice restaurant and had a very nice dinner. Just as the waiter was bringing our dessert (a scrumptious eclair--the house specialty) he informed us that there would be no check. Someone in the restaurant had paid for our entire dinner! It had to be around $80-90! We looked around. It was the middle of the week. There weren't many people there and absolutely no one we knew. To this day, we have no idea who it was. None of our friends or family could keep a secret that long. Some day I want to do that for someone else--see a couple celebrating and pay for their dinner.

CatMom said...

What an uplifting surprise, JoAnne! Yes, the Lord always knows just when we do need a "lift"! It never ceases to amaze me that when I'm having a sad day due to really missing my precious parents (lost them both in the past 3 years), a friend will suddenly call me or I'll receive a sweet card in the mail.~ I sure hope little Jodi will be well soon, bless her heart. I'm praying for her, Patti Jo Moore

Mary Connealy said...

Here's the deal with babies, JoAnne, they get sick a lot. But once they get older, they rarely get sick EVER, plus they can just have you phone school and they can drive themselves to the doctor's office.

And yes, I know I just fast forwarded 15 years, but that is a good reminder to you.

the years fly by.

Some DAYS, however will NEVER END.

Serendipity, huh? A random act of kindness................
...........................
............................
........................
......................... Oh, please, surely I've done something nice to someone sometime.

I'm sure this is just one of those senior moments.
I'll keep thinking and get back to you.

Mary L. Briggs said...

What a great surprise! Isn't the Lord good to bless us with things like that on days that we really need it?!

Sure hope little Jodi will be feeling better soon. I remember when mine were that small, and sometimes it did seem like they were an illness magnet! I think it just builds up their immunities and helps them ward off more serious things.

Have a great weekend.

Mary

Anita Mae Draper said...

Hey JoAnne, I'm sorry to hear about Jodi. My boys were sick a lot too until a specialist said they needed to boost their immune systems with the good bacteria in yogurt. But they didn't like yogurt so he suggested acidophilus in liquid form. I added it to their juice once a day. It worked for them.

About the 'Pay it Forward' - I was actually blessed this weekend in a similar manner. I had participated in an author blog and was picked to win the free book. I read the post announcing me as the winner while I was rushing and trying to get ready to pick up my son up from Bible camp. But I really wanted to say thank you first, so I dashed off an email and a blog comment and then while getting dressed, I realized I'd thanked the blog poster for one of her own books - but the one she was giving away was another author's. Yikes.

So, I rushed off another email and blog post trying to explain my rush and apologizing for my error.

Then I ran out the door.

A couple hours later, I was back online and cringed when I read the comments I'd posted that am. They were filled with sp errors, wrong words, etc. I posted another blog entry asking the author to delete my above comments.

Not only did she delete my comments - except for me thanking her - but she added her own book as an extra gift. So instead of 1 book, I get 2.

Lessons learned:
1. Don't rush when you're commenting on blogs; and
2. Make sure your info is correct.

Now, let's see who needs something...