Words of Kindness and Joy

 Yes, I will share a story of Kindness and Joy; but thought just for your viewing pleasure I would include pictures along the beautiful Oregon Highway my "live-in gardener" and I traveled to Southern Oregon. We had never traveled on part of this highway and decided we wanted a bit of a detour just to see the beauty. It didn't disappoint.

Crater Lake in the middle of Mt. Mazama, a volcano which erupted many years ago forming this lake. One day this picture might pop up again as I think it would be fun to do a post on The Ring of Fire. There was still a little snow on the ground.

The story I really wanted to share today was a "pay it forward" sort of story. Every once in the while on Instagram I see these stories where someone is helped when they are struggling, how it changed their life and how they turn to help another.

I was raised by a single mom, my father removed himself from the family when I was two. Life was often a struggle for my mom. When I was in high school the electric company was threatening to turn our electricity off because my mom couldn't pay the bill. I remember being upset about it when someone from our church stopped by our home and gave my mother the money to pay the bill. Later when my mother offered to pay them back they said to pay it forward to help another. That made such a huge impact on me. I had never heard of that concept before. What an amazing heart of kindness. It changed how I thought of helping another without expecting anything in return.

Again I am reminded a smile, a hug or even a kind word can change someone's heart and make their day a better day.

Sending love,

Marilyn