"SPREAD THE LOVE"

This is February. The month of love. It is also the birthday month of myself, my sister, and my daughter, Ashley. I have always found it special that we showed up on this earth in the month of love. And in this month, some special things have happened to remind me what love is all about.

Our dear friend Brother Bill speaks to us about Loving each other. GOD commands us to LOVE your fellow man

On Sunday February 11th, we heard a lot about love. First from Brother Jason at Pardue Memorial Freewill Baptist Church, then from Brother Bill as we gathered with fellow Christians at the 180 Church for an evening fiesta banquet. Brother Bill told us GOD demands us to love each other. He does not ask if you want to, if you are in the mood, or if you feel like it. GOD commands it.

John 4:7 - Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and everyone that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.

John15:12 - This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you.

I work with amazing people. Good hearts and kind hearts. Nothing was better than being there today to give our policeman some treats to say we love you for all you do!

Fast forward a few days, and I am reminded once more that love is expressed in so many ways. To show love towards our fellow man, we should always be thinking of others. At Crye-Leike and I realize I work with amazing people with such good and kind hearts. At the office we created goody bags to give to our Clarksville Police. It was simple, but it is a way of saying we love you all for your sacrifice. We appreciate you and you mean something to us. You’re our heroes! Clarksville is full of good people. Nothing was better than being there to give our policeman some treats to say we love you for all you do for the Valentine’s Day season!

Another way to show love for your fellow man is just think of different acts of kindness that you can bestow on your family, a friend, or even a stranger. I love going through the drive through and paying it forward to the person behind me. It is simple and, to be honest, it brings so much more joy to me than the person I am surprising may feel.

I will never forget when someone tried to ‘pay it forward’ while I was at Walmart. I had $200.00 in groceries all bagged up when I reached into my wallet to find my debit card was not there-- oh no! I took a deep breath and wondered what to do. Thankfully, I had Ashley with me and had asked her to run to the car to check if my card had somehow fallen onto the seats. As I stood there waiting, a kind voice spoke from behind me in line. He said, "I got this." Now, to have this man offer to pay my $200.00 groceries bill shocked me. I had to turn to look at him, thinking I misunderstood, but he gets out his card and starts to put it in the card reader! I was so surprised, and I was also a bit frazzled at the idea. “No, you shouldn’t do that,” I said. Of course, I wasn’t letting him pay! I would not accept it, but he was so insistent! I thought fast and had the clerk close the order until Ashley got back. I couldn’t accept something I could pay for myself, even with the gentleman saying he didn’t worry if I had money or not. He had seen me in distress and wanted to help. Ashley came back pretty quickly. That girl can run under pressure! She had found my card. I paid the bill and did not stop praising the man for his kindness. Even though I paid myself, I was awestruck at the generosity of this man and kindness of his heart. I think God was playing with me that day. I was rushing through the store and not really thinking, kind of like we always do. Then a wonderful act of kindness was unleashed and made me feel good. Kindness is magical like that. It fills your heart and leaves you feeling a love for strangers you didn't know were there. His act made me a better person from that day on. He let me know that this world has so much good in it.

One of Our finest

 Another way to spread the love is by helping others that are in a bad place in life. I attend Pardue Freewill Baptist.  We were making prayer books for ourselves one day. I thought I might make some for gifts. One of our members brought up an idea of starting an outreach program. Now we are making prayer books and going out into the community to share these prayers books and help other get started. places that could use some uplifting with prayer might be women's shelters, prisons and other places where people might be down on their luck. Sharing the love of God with others is sharing his love. We invite others to join us in this rewarding effort as well.  #WarBookOfPrayers

During this month I have thought dearly back on my Mother. Mom was always showing acts of kindness. She would make all of Ashley elementary school teachers a quilt at the end of each year. Mom's way of helping Ashley understand how wonderful Teachers are and how we show our love to them. Mom always baked cakes and took them to the staff and even made many of the staff quilts.  Mom would make those that were retiring from her place of work "BACH" quilts and was always doing so much more. It was aways my mother's way to show love.

My Father was also a Godly man and often found doing good deeds for our community. Dad was in the Civitans and a member of  "The Immaculate Conception church". Dad was an Usher in the church and would always welcome everyone with a kind heart. He would always be the one to ring the bell at Christmas, always standing in the cold. Dad also reminded me of how important it was to help others by taking baskets of food to the needy during the holidays.