Thursday, December 12, 2019

Share Good News with the Gift of Writing



by Julie Lavender @JLavenderWrites

I didn’t bring a gift to the birthday celebration. In fact, the gentleman celebrating his special day was the one who distributed gifts. Ninety gifts to be exact. 

Joseph Montgomery, from a small town in south-Georgia, celebrated his 90th birthday in a rather unusual way: he gave away ninety one-dollar bills to perfect strangers. 

“I’m celebrating my 90th birthday,” Mr. Montgomery said each time he handed over the money. “I’m doing a random act of kindness and I want you to have this one-dollar bill.”

Just a couple of months prior to the event, Mr. Montgomery didn’t know what the words ‘random acts of kindness’ meant. He’d shared with his daughter on the phone that someone in front of him had paid for his purchases at a dollar store. “She left without giving me a chance to thank her—why would she do that,” he’d asked his daughter. 

“Dad, she was doing a ‘random act of kindness,’” his daughter explained. That was new terminology to Mr. Montgomery, but not a new concept. He’d been the recipient of gifts from others and he’d been the giver before, too.

With help from his children, Mr. Montgomery knew what he wanted to do for his 90th birthday celebration. And I had the pleasure of covering the story for my newspaper as a freelance reporter. 

Recipients at the coffee shop where Mr. Montgomery’s birthday morning began were shocked and elated as he made his rounds among the coffee patrons. Humbly approaching each table, Mr. Montgomery first said, “Excuse me for bothering you,” before he began his brief monologue.


A college student stood abruptly before the elderly gentleman finished speaking and pulled him into his arms in a bear hug. A group of kids asked the birthday celebrant to pose with them for a picture. The barista couldn’t stop grinning when she received her gift. 

In fact, each person’s eyes lit up in delight and smiles spread across faces when Mr. Montgomery shared his money and kindness. 

Perhaps one of the most interesting exchanges of a random act of kindness came about when he approached one coffee-sipping patron. I was taking notes and snapping photos as quickly as possible, and I recognized the gentleman as a pastor that I’d interviewed previously. Pastor Donald Chavers was reading his Bible and going over sermon notes. 

But the best part? I knew Pastor Chavers was an amazing singer, and I asked him to gift the birthday gentleman with a song. Not only did the pastor lead the entire group of patrons in a ‘Happy Birthday’ round, but he also serenaded Montgomery with a beautiful rendition of ‘Amazing Grace.

Later, Pastor Chavers told Mr. Montgomery’s daughter how special the act was to him. “For a long time, I’ve kept dollar bills in my Bible to give out to others as the Lord leads me, as a reminder that says, ‘The Lord hasn’t forgotten you.’ 

“Mr. Montgomery’s dollar gave me a chance to feel what other people feel and … wow!”

The singing pastor said he planned to keep the birthday dollar in his Bible as a reminder that the Lord hasn’t forgotten him, either.

And just before leaving, one recipient handed Joseph Montgomery’s daughter the sleeve from her coffee cup to give to her dad. Written on the sleeve were these words: “Mr. Joseph, Happy Birthday! Today is the anniversary of my losing the most important man in my life, the man who raised me and taught me about unconditional love and joy. It is always a hard day for me. His name was Joseph. Thank you! I can’t help but feel connected through the celebration of your life. YOU were my gift today.”

Ninety small gestures—mere one dollar bills—for each year of Joseph Montgomery’s life. What priceless gifts a birthday gentleman offered that day.

And though I came to the party bearing no gifts, the words that appeared in my newspaper the next day became my humble gift to the Montgomery family. Words that I prayed over before hitting “send,” and words that I pray became a gift to readers, words that I hope encouraged them to find their own “one-dollar-bills” to give away to others in random acts of kindness. 

May God bless you, my writing friends, with good gifts—His words—to share with others this Christmas season. Happy Birthday, Jesus!

TWEETABLE

Julie Lavender loves an excuse for a celebration, and the month of November reminds her to count blessings all the way to the Thanksgiving feast with family and friends. She is especially grateful this month for two book blessings: the recent release of Come and Behold Him, a co-authored book with Michelle Cox, prolific author who pens the When God Calls the Heart series, devotional books based on the content of the television show, “When Calls the Heart.” The devotional is available at Amazon, Target, and bookstores. And, the manuscript for her first book with Revell Books, Baker Publishing Group, is due on November 15 to editor Vicki Crumpton, whom Julie first met at Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference three years ago. 

Besides writing for her local newspaper, Julie contributes to Guideposts Publications, other magazines, a couple of homeschooling blogs, Just18Summers.com, and many compilations. Combining her education degree, love of homeschooling, and joy of celebrating, Julie wrote a devotional entitled, 365 Days of Celebration and Praise, a party planning book called, Creative Sleepovers for Kids, and three teacher resource books for the religious division of Carson-Dellosa. Julie and David are enamored with their four adult children, one son-in-love, and one gorgeous grandson. Keep up with Julie on social media and at her blog at julielavender.blogspot.com.

22 comments:

  1. Julie, thank you for a powerful lift to my day and renewed motivation to do random acts of kindness.

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    1. Thank you so much for the comment, and, I hope he inspired every person in that coffee shop and AT LEAST 90 people that he gave one-dollar bills to that day! He was such a sweet gentleman!

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  2. Julie - Thank you for such a powerful, timely story. You words are leaving a trail of good in this time of giving and taking stock of our REAL blessings. Jay Wright; Anderson, SC

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    1. Thank you so much for your comment, Jay. And, you know what, that's a great prayer for me, that my words may leave a trail of good in a world that is hungry for good and hungry for God! Blessings and thanks for sharing!

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  3. Oh, man, I cried all through this post. What an encouragement! Thanks for sharing, Julie.

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    1. Thank you so very much, Susan! I stayed teary-eyed the entire time I followed him around that morning, taking pictures and doing the interview. It was just such a sweet gesture by him and so moving to the people he handed the dollar bills to!

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  4. Julie, My day beginning with vertigo will end on a brighter note because of your article. How uplifting! This article put my thoughts on a more positive path.Thank you! Ethel Lytton

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    1. Good morning, Ethel!! Thank you so much for commenting, and he made my day so much brighter with his actions in that coffee shop! It was such a pleasure to interview him and share his story with our community, and now I'm having fun sharing his random acts of kindness with others! Bless you! (And, oh my - I've had vertigo, and it's miserable!!)

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  5. Here is one thing I am certain of Ms. Julie. You brought a gift with you ma'am; and you shared it here and in the newspaper article bearing your byline ma'am. That gift? Compassion. As I read your post this morning, I was touched by the kindness shown by this joy-filled man; yet I was moved by the words you so carefully crafted to tell his story. Thank you for the wonderful example of how powerful our platform can be. You moved me to want to honor Mr. Joseph's random act of kindness with one of my own. God's blessings young lady.

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    1. J.D., thank you so much for your sweet words. And, I can tell you - every one of your comments to writers and bloggers is a gift - I've shared this with you before, but you have such a way of encouraging others with your kind and genuine comments! Thank you for your example, and thanks again for being faithful to read my words!!

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  6. Thank you Julie for the gift your writing brought me today!

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    1. Candyce, thank you so much for saying that! And, as you probably know with your own blogging, comments from sweet friends on posts are truly a gift, each and every one!! Blessings!

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  7. What a touching story about the power of kindness.

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    1. Thank you, and I totally agree! He was the most genuine and kindhearted gentleman, sharing those one-dollar bills that day! And, he just couldn't stop smiling as he handed out those bills to each person!

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  8. Julie, your writing was a blessing to me today. And yes, it caused tears too. Thanks for using your gift so wisely.

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    1. Thank you so much, Roberta! He made me cry that day, also! He was so thrilled to be sharing his one-dollar bills with others. And, it was so obvious that each person recognized it as a "small" token that had an enormous impact! Thanks for joining the conversation!

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  9. What a sweet story and example to all of us how we should look for opportunities to express kindness. Your newspaper story about him shone the light on his generous heart.

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    1. Barbara, his generous and kind heart showed through so much that day! He just couldn't stop smiling when he handed out those one-dollar bills! It was a thrill to be part of his 90-year-birthday adventure! It was so inspiring to me, and I pray that it touched every single person in that coffee shop and that they were then inspired to do something similar!

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  10. Julie, this story is beautiful. What a joy it must have been to witness the love demonstrated by this wise man! Thank you for sharing. Peace and grace, Tammy

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    1. Tammy, thank you so much for commenting. It truly was a joy for me to watch that sweet man share those seemingly "small" tokens that made an enormous impact on each and every person that accepted the money from him! He was so genuine and kind and you could tell it brought him such joy to bring a bit of joy to others! Honestly, I cried while watching him, but my cheeks hurt from grinning by the end of the time, too! Oh, that I could remember to pass along that sort of kindness each day! Blessings!

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  11. Julie, what a gift your article is to us. Thank you for sharing such a beautiful story!

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    1. Thank you so much, Jeannie, for your kind words! He was truly a gift to me that day, and everyone in the coffee shop treated him as if he were a special gift to them. My, how it brightened everyone's day, if I was reading their facial expressions and comments accurately, and I believe I was! It was such a fun treat for me, and I hope they carried that lesson with them, and decided to do their own random acts of kindness, too!!

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