The host talked about a man somewhere in America who realized that people offered to help him pretty often. He was thinking about people in stores who say, “May I help you?” or maybe even people at places like the post office or a library. He also realized he almost always said no when people offered to help.
So he decided to start saying yes—not just sometimes, but every time someone asked, “May I help you?”
One day a man at the grocery store said, “Can I take your groceries to your car?”
He said yes.
He tried to tip the man, but the man refused to take any money and started telling a story.
The man had been diagnosed with cancer about fifteen years earlier, and the doctors only gave him a short time to live. For some reason, though, he was one of those people who outlived his diagnosis—by something like fifteen years at that point. When he got past the time the doctors said he would live, he decided to spend the rest of his life helping people, every way he could. That’s how he ended up working at the grocery store. The job gave him a chance to help people every single day.
My youth minister at church says people sometimes wait until something bad happens to someone before they do nice things for that person. Maybe someone on your sports team has an injury and everyone seems to really care about that person when he or she is hurt, but no one has taken an interest before. I have decided that I want to make a difference while the good stuff is happening; I don’t want to wait until someone is in a bad situation to start doing nice things. I hope you won’t wait either. Let’s get busy together and do some acts of random kindness—with genuineness and sincerity—right now.
Live Original Challenge
1. Has someone ever done an act of random kindness for you? What was it, and how did it make you feel?
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----
----
----
2. Is there someone at your school or in your family who would really appreciate an act of random kindness? Who is it, and what could you do for that person?
----
----
----
3. What can you do anonymously to bless or encourage someone?
----
----
----
4. List three ways you could make someone’s day today.
----
----
----
DON’T FORGET
Do acts of random kindness every time you have a chance!
But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies!
Do good to those who hate you.
Bless those who curse you.
Pray for those who hurt you.
—Luke 6:27–28
CHAPTER EIGHT
Shake the Hate
O ur family gets a lot of invitations to do media appearances. Some people genuinely respect us and some are just really curious about us. The first time the men in the family were asked to be guests on one of the late-night talk shows, a musical group had also been invited to be part of the lineup. When they found out they would appear the same night as Papaw Phil and the rest of the guys, they refused to play. They did not seem to object to our Christian beliefs or our politics; they had an issue with hunting animals.
I guess animal rights activists would have a problem with Papaw Phil; I get that. In our family, we view hunting and fishing as part of the circle of life, part of God’s design for us to eat and survive on this earth. If you have watched Duck Dynasty very much, you have probably seen how crazy Mamaw Kay is about her dogs, Jesse and Bobo; they are like part of the family. In fact, a lot of us Robertsons are animal lovers. We have lots of pets and we take great care of them. But the musical guests did not understand that.
When the host interviewed Papaw Phil and asked him how he felt about the fact that the band would not appear with him, he had a simple answer: “We just love ’em anyway.”
Just loving people anyway is the best response to hate. And hate seems to be happening more and more, especially among high school students. But even elementary school children experience bullying in school. It’s becoming a big problem. I guess one way to deal with hate is to give
So he decided to start saying yes—not just sometimes, but every time someone asked, “May I help you?”
One day a man at the grocery store said, “Can I take your groceries to your car?”
He said yes.
He tried to tip the man, but the man refused to take any money and started telling a story.
The man had been diagnosed with cancer about fifteen years earlier, and the doctors only gave him a short time to live. For some reason, though, he was one of those people who outlived his diagnosis—by something like fifteen years at that point. When he got past the time the doctors said he would live, he decided to spend the rest of his life helping people, every way he could. That’s how he ended up working at the grocery store. The job gave him a chance to help people every single day.
My youth minister at church says people sometimes wait until something bad happens to someone before they do nice things for that person. Maybe someone on your sports team has an injury and everyone seems to really care about that person when he or she is hurt, but no one has taken an interest before. I have decided that I want to make a difference while the good stuff is happening; I don’t want to wait until someone is in a bad situation to start doing nice things. I hope you won’t wait either. Let’s get busy together and do some acts of random kindness—with genuineness and sincerity—right now.
Live Original Challenge
1. Has someone ever done an act of random kindness for you? What was it, and how did it make you feel?
----
----
----
----
2. Is there someone at your school or in your family who would really appreciate an act of random kindness? Who is it, and what could you do for that person?
----
----
----
3. What can you do anonymously to bless or encourage someone?
----
----
----
4. List three ways you could make someone’s day today.
----
----
----
DON’T FORGET
Do acts of random kindness every time you have a chance!
But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies!
Do good to those who hate you.
Bless those who curse you.
Pray for those who hurt you.
—Luke 6:27–28
CHAPTER EIGHT
Shake the Hate
O ur family gets a lot of invitations to do media appearances. Some people genuinely respect us and some are just really curious about us. The first time the men in the family were asked to be guests on one of the late-night talk shows, a musical group had also been invited to be part of the lineup. When they found out they would appear the same night as Papaw Phil and the rest of the guys, they refused to play. They did not seem to object to our Christian beliefs or our politics; they had an issue with hunting animals.
I guess animal rights activists would have a problem with Papaw Phil; I get that. In our family, we view hunting and fishing as part of the circle of life, part of God’s design for us to eat and survive on this earth. If you have watched Duck Dynasty very much, you have probably seen how crazy Mamaw Kay is about her dogs, Jesse and Bobo; they are like part of the family. In fact, a lot of us Robertsons are animal lovers. We have lots of pets and we take great care of them. But the musical guests did not understand that.
When the host interviewed Papaw Phil and asked him how he felt about the fact that the band would not appear with him, he had a simple answer: “We just love ’em anyway.”
Just loving people anyway is the best response to hate. And hate seems to be happening more and more, especially among high school students. But even elementary school children experience bullying in school. It’s becoming a big problem. I guess one way to deal with hate is to give
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