My Aunt's Gift to Me

I wanted to share these two pictures of a gift my Aunt Joan presented to me over a week ago when she and my Uncle Chuck came up to Indiana from Florida for a few days. I had dinner with them, my Aunt Joyce and Uncle Terry, and my Dad and his gal-pal Nila. After dinner, my aunt Joan handed me this wonderfully fragrant box. Inside I found six Mia Bella Gourmet Votive candles in as many different scents. It was such a thoughtful gift as I love scented candles and I have not found any others as good as the Mia Bella candles.

The empty spot in the first picture (of the votives) held the Honey Bee Vanilla votive that I am burning right now. It makes my whole house smell beautiful after only a few minutes!

Thank You, Aunt Joan for your very thoughtful gift to me!

If you are stuck on what kind of gift to buy for a family and friends who are fans of scented candles, you might consider giving them a Mia Bella scented candle or even a sampler pack like the gourmet pack I received, with several scents for them to enjoy. The terrific scents of the votives in my gourmet pack are back row left to right. Oriental Teakwood, Mediterraneen Spa, and Pear Pomegranate. Front row left, Spring Fever, and Wildflower. As I already stated, I am burning the Honey Bee Vanilla one.

I have helped several people this week when and where I could and that always leaves me feeling good. My family has been very generous to me with my brother giving me enough money for the camera and some extra, and my aunt bestowing these aromatic candles upon me. Overall, it has been a very glad living week for me!

I hope your week had many glad moments and experiences for you to reflect on and to be thankful for

I Was Blessed Times Three Today

I got a triple blessing today and I wanted to share the tale of it with all of you. The first blessing was my brother Jim stopping by my house unexpectedly today. I have not seen or talked to him for quite awhile so what a wonderful surprise it was to have him drop by for a visit.

While talking to him he handed me (2) one-hundred dollar bills. I asked him, “What’s this for?” He told me that he was sure that he had missed one or two of my birthdays, and that he was doing good financially and wanted to share a bit of it with me. Wow!

After he left, I went to Wal-Mart and bought that digital camera that has been on my wish list for so long. You see, if you put your wishes out to the universe, wishes can come true. I even have some money left to put towards a bill.

It was a very glad living day for me. It was so great to see you Jim. I have missed you. Come by more often. Thanks for helping to make my wish for a digital camera come true!

The picture is one I took with my new camera of my pooch Hannah. She was not very cooperative with having her picture taken. She is not as thrilled as I am about finally having a digital camera.

That was my glad living day. How was yours?

A Stop for Water Presents Opportunity for Kindness

Yesterday, another opportunity to do something kind for someone else presented itself to me. I was thirsty so I stopped at one of the convenience stores in town on my way home to get myself some bottled water. In front of me at the register was an older woman asking the clerk for directions to Lowe’s (a home remodeling supplies and appliance store.) This store is located on the northwest side of our city, and several miles away from the convenience store. As the cashier began giving directions to the other store to her, the woman asked him to write them down. This man speaks English better than he writes it apparently, as he asked me to write down the directions for her instead. Actually, it sounded more like a demand than a request for my help as he said, “You do this, you can do this” to me, but lets not split hairs here.

The clerk then turned his attention elsewhere so I began writing down the names of the streets and the directional path this lady needed to take to get to Lowe’s, while explaining each to her as I wrote them. Midway through this she asks me if I am going that way and could show her where it was. In truth, I was headed in the opposite direction, but looking at her flustered face, how could I not make the choice to drive there anyways with her following behind in her vehicle? That is exactly what I did and although it was several miles out of my way, it was so worth it to see the relaxed smile on her face when we both pulled into the Lowe’s parking lot.

I asked her if she would be able to get back home from the location that we were now at after finishing her shopping. I was willing to wait and lead her back to a roadway that she was familiar with so she would not get lost. She told me that she was confident she could find her way home from this place, and thanked me for helping her to find the store. I left then, with a very good feeling inside because, even though this was certainly not a huge thing that I had done, (driving 5 miles there and then 5 miles back to my originating point, to then head on home) I had offered kindness and help to this lady that I did not know.

Yesterday was a great day for me with many blessings. The opportunity to be kind and helpful to another was one of them and I wanted to share that experience with my readers. Thank you for taking the time to read this and other posts in this blog. As always, you are encouraged to share your comments with us, on this and anything else you see posted here in this blog.

Giving to Others...Gives Back to You

Giving to others really does give much back to you. Just a little while ago, an opportunity to “give” of a little bit of my time and my sincere caring for another came about while reading an RSS feed from another blog, that I am quite fond of and check almost daily. The author of that blog shared with readers that one of her children had unfortunately experienced the loss of a beloved pet rat this morning.

Having loved and lost my share of animal companions over the years. I know how attached we become, and how much it can hurt when their time on earth ends.

I do not know this family and that really does not matter. We can all help and give to family, friends, neighbors, and even people who are, and that may always remain strangers to us.

I decided that I wanted to convey words of comfort to the child and his or her family on the loss of their much-loved pet, in a more personal way than leaving those words in the comments box section of the blog.

It hit me that an e-card would be a great way to deliver a message of caring to them. I chose a sweet one with flowers and music, and that included a very nice sentiment, to which I added my own words in the message box provided, as well. It only took me a few minutes to find, personalize, and send an e-card to let them know that someone they do not know, cares.

What has such a simple act of kindness given back to me? I feel good about reaching out and offering caring and comforting words to a family who faces are unknown to me at this time. Who ever knows when or if the life paths of others may meet up with our own path in this life, or the one after that? The good feeling I got from doing this has also picked up my mood, which was wavering towards the doldrums earlier, with several writing projects on my plate today.

For me, giving to others always gives a lot back to me. I try not to let any opportunity to help others in a meaningful way whenever I can, slip away. I do this because the benefits for those that I can help and for me are just too great to pass up.

If you have stories of random or other acts of kindness that you would like to share with community members, please feel free to do so using the link to the comments section, located at the bottom and to the right of this post.