Spreading Sunshine Update

Spreading Sunshine Update

Last week, I asked you if you knew anyone who could benefit from a little sunshine my boys and I planned to spread.  After a few correspondences we began planning our surprises.  

The first woman we surprised is a widow, has been under the weather, and missing the warm weather.  With the help of my 3 boys and two of their friends, we drove to Tolono to Joyce’s home.  

Upon exiting, my kids were crazy.  They were climbing trees, throwing snow at each other, running around screaming, and acting like cave men.  

Note to self…. next time we do these random acts, I will NOT choose to do it right after school when they’ve been cooped up in school all day.  I was driving around hungry ‘animals’ that also very much needed to burn energy.  I digress….

So after I corralled the kids, we made it to the door of a woman who was quite surprised by our arrival.  We delivered a yellow flowering plant, a tea light votive holder, homemade muffins and other goodies.  After I mentioned I grew up in Tolono, our worlds shrunk pretty fast.  She knew my parents and grandparents and remembered me as a little girl.  It was fun introducing her to my 3 boys and talking for a few minutes.  We didn’t stay long.  I wanted to get out of there before the natives got restless.  ha!   Later, I got a message from one of her daughter’s thanking me for stopping by her mom’s house.  I hadn’t even realized that relation.  It allowed me to connect the dots even more of the connections I had to the ’stranger’ behind the door.  It was a great first stop and even got a picture of her and the adorable faces that made the delivery.

Our next stop was also in Tolono and Sherrie was home too when we arrived. Awesome!  She too seemed surprised and a bit confused why a SUV full of strangers was delivering presents.  This woman has done a great job raising her own children and now is very involved in raising her grandchildren.  As you can imagine, her free time is limited.  When you’re helping raise your grandchildren, your own wants and needs I’m sure get put on the back burner.  So I included a gift card to Ruby Tuesday’s with the rest of her gifts and hope she and her husband can steal a little time for just the two of them.  (Technically the gift card is ‘in the mail’ cause when we arrived I couldn’t locate it. I’m gonna blame it on the kids but I’m sure it was my own fault.)  I shouldn’t be surprised that within a few minutes we realized that I graduated high school with one of her cousin’s, Kelly Bialeschki Wayne.  

Total God wink moment (that you can read about a God wink I posted previously here) that our first round of Spreading Sunshine included a delivery to one of Kelly’s relatives. Let me tell you why.  Kelly did not nominate Sherrie but I love that she was a recipient.  Over the last few years, I’ve had people compliment me on my thoughts I’d share on FB and conversations become more frequent the last year or two with comments such as, ‘you should write a blog,’or  ‘you could be a writer.’ I was flattered but laughed it off each time thinking, ‘what in the world do I have to share?’.  In December, after making one of my long-winded thoughts on Facebook, sharing with 1,000 of my closest friends, I had three people in one day saying I should write a blog.  One of the gals was not even on Facebook but it had been on her heart to share that with me for a while.  And Kelly was one of the three who shared with me why I should blog.  THREE people in one day?!  

Ok, God…. I’ve ignored your whispers for a long time,  so you’re making sure I don’t miss the alarms you are setting off in my world coming from all directions.  So within a week, I was figuring out how to set up a blog, pulling some of my deeper thoughts from my previous “blog” a.k.a Facebook.  And a couple weeks later, I announced to my friends that I started a blog.  And here we are. So that’s why it’s so cool to me that a relative of one of the three gals that God used to push me out of my comfort zone to write a blog was a recipient of our first round of spreading sunshine.  

Third and final stop was back in Mahomet, where I currently live.  We made a delivery of the goodies I’ve previously mentioned along with a journal, note pad and gift card for a manicure to a mom of 2 boys whose family is having a really tough time right now.  As a mom of 3 boys myself, I realize it’s easy to put yourself last.  But I also know how important it is to put yourself first so you can do your best to take care of everyone else.  

Sneaking in a workout, spending time with friends, taking a few minutes every day to read the Bible or pampering yourself are all great ways to feel your very best.  It may be something different for you.  Whatever YOU need, make sure you take time for it which in turn will help you have 100% to also give to others you love.  Vehicles can not run on empty.  Neither can you.  I know.  I’ve had seasons of my life where I have failed miserably to focus on me and other periods when I make myself a priority.  The level of energy I have to give to others when I spend some time caring for myself skyrockets.  It’s a win-win.  

This final stop was the most heartwarming for me.  I walked up to the door and one of her boys, about the age of my oldest, greeted us with a big wave and a friendly smile.  He called his mom to the door and we handed her all the goodies.  The goodies that to me were small little tokens to just say, ‘hey, someone nominated you cause they think you are a rock star and we want to brighten your day,’ to her they were much more.  She hugged me and whispered ‘thank you. I really needed this TODAY.  thank you so much.’ She cried.  I cried.  We hugged some more.  

I do not know her story but I do know there was a reason that I chose her and why I decided to deliver them that specific day.  So thankful God used me to be a blessing to her when she needed it most.  

I’d encourage you to go out and make a conscious effort to spread your own sunshine this week.  And when you do, please come back and share.  I’d love to hear about it!