Jill's Journal: A week filled with generosity

Every once in a while, you have one of those weeks.

You know the kind of week – when nothing seems to go right. The milk carton is empty. The gas tank is on E and you’re late for an appointment. Or perhaps you’re wearing the aftermath of an accident with the ketchup bottle at lunch.

While I’ve experienced all of those things – and of course a whole lot more – a week in late August was quite the opposite.

Instead of doom-and-gloom moments, my days were made brighter by simple gestures of kindness bestowed upon me and by simple gestures of kindness that I witnessed being bestowed upon others.

For starters, I was the lucky recipient of a Forestburg watermelon and a cantaloupe from Larry and Ardell Johnson.

There were fresh potatoes and cucumbers out of the Lanoue’s garden as a token of appreciation for judging the apple pie contest at the Brandon Farmers Market. (Not a bad trade, if you ask me.)

And speaking of the Lanoue’s, they carved up 18 watermelons for the Lynx football team following hot day of practice.

Eighteen! I can barely cut up one watermelon without a break in the action, so the thought of carving up 18 of them is enough to make me tired just thinking about it.

Then, there was my pedicure, which came courtesy of my friends, Tam and Kim at Happy Nails. 

And I have to mention the Brandon Valley girls’ soccer team, who crafted jewelry and sold it at the Farmers Market to benefit a father of one of their teammates battling cancer.

I can’t forget about the Brandon Area Prayer Breakfast. How cool is it that an event like that takes place right here in our school? In a world where there always seems to be plenty of bad news to go around, hundreds of people gathered to share breakfast, fellowship, prayer and gratitude.

As I thought about all of those moments, I looked up at a sign hanging in my office: “Because when you stop and look around, this life is pretty amazing.”

I bought it shortly after launching the Brandon Valley Journal, and it’s been hanging there ever since, quietly reminding me of something that is easy to forget when deadlines are looming, work is piling up and life is moving at full speed.

And maybe that was the lesson I took away from a week filled with generosity. Sometimes we get so busy looking for what went wrong – the empty milk carton, the empty gas tank, the ketchup stain on a shirt – that we forget to look for what is going right.

Watermelon shared with a football team.

A few potatoes and cucumbers given in appreciation.

A group of young soccer players working to help one of their own.

Neighbors and friends gathering around tables.

People praying together.

People laughing together.

People simply showing up for one another.

Those things may not make headlines around the world.

But around here, they matter.

And maybe that sign on my office wall has been right all along.

Because when you stop – really stop – and look around, this life is pretty amazing. And, I didn’t have to look very far to find proof.