Random Acts of Kindness

Today I'm linking up with Brooke at Covered in Grace for a new link-up called Acts Of Kindness!  I loved this as soon as I heard about it and couldn't wait to participate!  You should head on over to Brooke's blog and check her out (after you read this one of course).



Find Your Sparkle

The theme for this month was Random Acts of Kindness.  My "act" was not super random, but I'll share it anyway.

Ever since Marco was born, I've been collecting baby boy clothes.  I received an inheritance of sorts from my best friend who had had a boy 4 years before, but then had a girl.  I also received a lot of clothing at my baby shower.  At first I was collecting for if by chance God decided to bless me with another son, I'd have a good wardrobe already.  And then he did... Jonas was born.  Once Jonas was born, I had no need to buy clothes for some time... the seasons were slightly off but we managed.  But everyone else kept buying clothes for him.  Every time someone would come and visit, they came with clothes for the kids.  What a huge blessing for me!

But when it was time for us to move from Greenville to Miami, and we finally packed up all the "old clothes"... the ones that the boys had already gone through, we realized we were abundantly blessed!

8 plastic bins blessed!

8 plastic bins full of clothes that we did not purchase!

8 plastic bins stuffed to the very top with anything and everything a baby boy would need, clothes-wise.  So much clothes that there was no way to possibly go through all of it without your child outgrowing it first!  Ranging from premie sized all the way to 3T.  (yes, Jonas isn't at 3T yet, but we still have so much to spare that I can be picky about exactly what I want to keep!)

Now we're on the verge of another move and we do not want to lug these 8 bins around.  So I decided to sort, organize, bag and label all of the contents.  I put them all in trash bags... 12 of them!  And I put up on facebook if any new mom's wanted to come by and pick up whatever they needed.

Only one girl responded.  She came over and got everything she wanted.

Then my cousin came into town and she's currently pregnant with a baby boy, so I let her have a go.  She took home 2 trash bags filled to the tippity top!

But I still had 8 full... and no one who seemingly wanted to take them... for FREE.

I thought, how hard can it be to give something away for free... come on!  But that's because God had a special plan for those clothes.

I was talking to an aquaintance at a Bible Study... she's a lot older than me and her husband is one of the pastors of a local church.  I was telling her that we had so much clothes to give but couldn't find anyone... even a church turned me down.

Then she told me of a woman who needed them.  Apparently she has a new baby boy and her husband just left her.  She's alone now, a single mother, trying to survive.

My heart broke.

The very next day I was at that local church delivering a blessing to a woman who desperately needed one!

My trash was her treasure!

I never met the single mom, in fact I don't even know her name.  But I would have loved to be a fly on the wall when she opened up those bags and saw that she wouldn't have to buy clothes for a looooong while.

God provided for her.

And I'm so blessed to have been a blessing.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Nicole, I loved reading your post. It touched me, and it brought a smile mixed with tears to my face. You were right god had a plan for those clothes. I bet that lady was thrilled to have all of those bags of clothes for her little one. What a wonderful post! I loved it!
www.findyoursparkle2.com

Amy Sullivan said...

Nicole,
8 BINS? Wowzers. You know, there are few things I love more than hand-me-downs. Very cool, and this reminds me how cool it is to share about the blessings you have because someone will likely know a person with a need.

Speaking of bins, I need to do a little closet clean out for my own girls!

Positively Alene said...

Love how you blessed the with clothes. I hear story after story of young moms, who have been been ditched by the man to have to figure out how to raise a little one b y themselves. Oh it stirs my heart. This is beautiful how you saw a need and had bags ready. Glad to visit your blog and link up.

No(dot dot)el said...

Nicole what a beautiful story. I think a hook up like that for a new momma would mean the world to her. I'm sure she felt much more prepared for her lil bundle by the clothes in that box. I like how God knew who those clothes were meant for even if you didn't. Found you through the link up. Happy to be a new follower here.