Recently I got to write for Begin Within: A Gratitude Series about an epic fail on our first Kindness Quests. Or maybe it is an epic win, depending on whether you want to learn how to accept kindness when you rather give it.
Deep in the forests of Northern California, a minuscule town is nestled at the base of a dormant volcano. The town of Mt. Shasta lives on in our memory like a bad dream–with a providential twist. As I didn’t partake in the only coffee available in the area, brewed with mushrooms, I can assure you the miracles God blessed us with were not hallucinated! This was the town where kindness humbled me and taught me how to receive with gratitude…
READ THE STORY HERE
…Looking like hippies, we pulled on our tie-dyed shirts, scrawled #KindnessQuest all over Rhonda the Honda (my minivan), and set forth on a journey from Tijuana to Vancouver, and back again for our first Kindness Quest. It was only later, after we were home, safely tucked into our own beds, that I remembered that God had plans to teach us to become aware of the people around us we adventured…
Yet the cupcakes and sprinkling the joy of kindness didn’t last forever. We were on the long leg back of our journey, leaving the lava tubes, when Rhonda the Honda started acting up. Thrust on a two-hour detour due to a wildfire, I realized my battery was losing its charge as I traversed a massive stretch of uninhabited forest that had no phone signal or GPS.
Trying not to imagine my family waiting on the side of a dirt road as I hiked a day to the nearest neighbor, I anxiously prayed through the hours until I got in sight of Interstate Five, only to be dismayed when the fire pushed us North instead of our destination, South.
But the phone started working and my lifeline call was to my husband. He told me to get off the freeway immediately. And as I did, my van stopped working entirely, rolling into the parking lot where there was an auto store. It turns out it was by the grace of God I had to take the North lane–it was at the only exit to civilization for over fifty miles!
Guess what happens when a woman stands next to a vehicle in a parking lot with the hood open? I had no less than a dozen men try to rescue me! Unfortunately though, their mechanical knowledge was lacking. But between these men, my battery was replaced, and then the alternator belt. But I was still stuck. Rhonda’s alternator itself was the problem.
Are you curious what happens next?
It is worth checking out!
Here is the rest of the story: How to Accept Kindness When You Rather Give It
Want To Do a Kindness Quest?
Want to learn how to do your own Kindness Quest? It doesn’t have to be July, like we are doing ours this year! I hope some vacation, staycation, or road trip you do one with us! Here are FAQ about the Kindness Quest and how to move forward doing one: Do a Kindness Quest
Let’s Change the World With Kindness!
Even if you don’t want to do a Kindness Quest, you might appreciate this list of 45 ideas for acts of kindness. Grab it from the free locked vault here.
