Give a Compliment, Give a Smile, Give Grace

A few years back, I was on staff at a Christian boarding high school that had been in existence in Southern Oregon since 1924. We had students from around the globe—Kentucky to Korea, Washington to West Virginia, Montana to Mongolia, Brazil to Botswana.

At that time, Thanksgiving break only encompassed half a week. So we hosted a trip to Sunriver for those who didn’t have time to fly home to Japan or Eastern Europe in that short period of time.

Skiing, ice skating, and Christmas shopping were all on the agenda. The students rode bikes, sat in the hot tub, and played ping pong. I cooked a traditional Thanksgiving feast, and we took turns around the table speaking the things we were grateful for.

And they all seemed to enjoy this simple American tradition of speaking gratitude.

What if, in addition to looking upon November as a time of THANKSgiving, we also emphasized it as ThanksGIVING?

With that in mind, I drafted a list (because if you’ve been reading this blog for very long, you’ll know my obsession with lists and checking things off lists). I hope it challenges you to come up with your own ideas for giving that will make someone else’s day.

• Give a compliment

• Give grace

• Give piano lessons

• Give a helping hand

• Give encouragement

• Give with no strings attached

• Give constructive criticism

• Give advice … (when asked)

• Give up trying to control

• Give from our abundance

• Give from our place of need

• Give thanks

• Give a smile

• Give a hug

• Give often

Michael Bliss said this:

“You may not know the impact you have had on someone’s life, the feeling you have given to someone simply because of your kindness. Your small act might have changed the mind of someone ready to give up. Choose kindness. Choose grace. Change the world.”

Who wants to be a world changer this month?! My hand is raised!