Living It Dare #5
Sunday April 19, 2009 | (0) Comments | James Waugh
I was reminded this week of a dare we asked our children to participate in while on Christmas vacation this past year. But, before I tell you the dare, let me set the scene.
On Christmas Eve we allow everyone in our immediate family to open one gift. Here is the fun part. The gift is hidden somewhere in the house. Poems containing clues are given to each family member to lead them on a treasure hunt for the gift. (Deborah writes all the poems, except the shoddy poems I write for her gift.) As each person is led from location to location in the home, the gift is finally obtained by deciphering obscure clues fit for a sleuth like Sherlock Holmes – Deborah is really good.
This year we were driving for two days to Colorado, so we decided to conduct our scavenger hunt on the road. We also decided a dare would be more appropriate than a treasure hunt full of clues. So when we stopped to eat lunch we handed our children some extra money and dared them to approach someone in line to pay for that individual’s meal. It was the only way they were going to receive their gift. No dare, no gift. They had to greet the person and somehow purchase that person’s meal as an act of kindness.
What a fantastic moment it was as they approached the individual and shared their goal. Most were blown away, while others reluctantly acquiesced. We have a picture of the smiles it brought in the life of one older gentleman.
So, here is Living It Dare #5 – Purchase a meal, as an act of kindness, for an individual you do not know. Instead of a meal, you could purchase a cup of coffee, a donut, a haircut, or car wash for this person. And if asked why you are doing this, you can say, “I am showing God’s love in a practical way.”
Love you all,
James
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me’” (Matthew 25:34-36).
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