Random…With Purpose

by Jaime Turner

It’s not just about me.

That is what I am striving to teach my children each and every day.

To think of others before ourselves.

To offer kindness.

To show compassion.

To extend forgiveness.

To serve others.

 To be the hands and feet of Jesus.

“Do you know that nothing you do in this life will ever matter, unless it is about loving God and about loving the people He has made.”  ~Francis Chan

For our family, this means continually serving others by random acts of kindness and by putting others’ needs before our own. This was placed on my heart last year before Christmas as a way to count down the days to Jesus’s birth. As a family, we served someone in some way every single day between Thanksgiving and Christmas. We were so blessed by it that we have continued, and we’ve tried to make it a weekly event since then.

 Thinking outside the box and getting outside our comfort zone is difficult sometimes. Doing random acts of kindness can take a lot of planning, but it is even sweeter when we open ourselves to be used by God and we set aside our pride. People look at us like we’re crazy when we try to give them something for free. One thing my children have taught me is there is pure joy in serving others. They get so excited when we do something new for someone or make new friends when we do a project. And surprise: my children don’t really care when people look at them strangely. In fact, they don’t notice it most of the time. Pure innocence—something we could all use a touch of.    There has been joy in seeing people’s faces light up just because we cared enough to bring them a cup of coffee that we made ourselves. There was great fun when we ran around the mall taping quarters to the toy/candy machines hoping to brighten the day of a child we will never see. There was the element of surprise and curiosity that we received when we told the drive-thru lady that we wanted to pay for the person’s meal behind us. There were many questions from our neighbors when we baked them muffins “just because.” (They all thought we were trying to sell them something!) There was the happiness we got to see on strangers’ faces just because we handed them a candy cane outside of a store and told them to have a good day. There was something amazing about seeing my children run around a park eager to pick up trash, without grumbling or complaining, because they knew they were serving others…and ultimately serving Jesus.

  I could tell you all day long how it blesses my soul every time we serve someone and even more so as I see my children serve others. And I love that they have favorite projects that we have done:

 “Bringing ice cream to the orphanage” (Elijah, 8 years)

 “Making and bringing cookies to the fire department” (Lucas, 6 years)

 “Bringing hot chocolate to the crossing guard” (Charley, 4 years)

 Despite what some might think, it doesn’t take a lot of money to serve others either. It just requires a little bit of time and a little bit of ourselves. We’ve had to be creative, step out of our comfort zones, and let our walls down so we could see our neighbors’ needs.

 We can all show love to someone around us. It’s fun to make it random, but it’s important for it to have purpose. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.”  ~ Matthew 22:37-39

 

A stay-at-home mom, Jaime Turner has been married for a dozen years and has 3 children. She is a Louisiana native who will never call herself a true Texan because, let’s face it, Texas isn’t home to the New Orleans Saints football team or good Cajun food. Jaime is known for her dimples, revered for her Fantasy Football track record, and thinks Sonic drinks can cure almost any personal ailment. Most importantly, Jaime strives daily to show her family and friends the same love that she has received through Christ Jesus.