Instead of meeting for Bible Study or a social event, our High School students decided to spread some love through Courtice two weeks ago. Armed with carnations and loonies they set out in groups to see what they could accomplish.
One group wanted to hand out carnations at the Kingsway Plaza, but found another group had already settled there. As they thought about where they could go, they saw people shivering at the bus stop. “That’s it!” they thought, “We can give flowers to people waiting for buses.” So they drove up and down Highway 2, jumping out at bus stops to surprise people with a flower.
The group that was at Kingsway Plaza decided to head over to Tim Hortons after they handed out flowers. They pooled their money and bought a Tim’s card and then stood in the cold to pay for people as they came through the drive through. Each person was greeted with a smile and the explanation that they were being treated to their Tim’s coffee that evening.
Yet another group stopped at Whitecliffe Terraces, a retirement home, to surprise the receptionist with the gift of flowers. They also delivered flowers to the home of someone they thought could use the encouragement, weaving them into the wreath on the front door.
And one group bought a stuffed animal, which they gave to a young mom and a smiley face balloon which is making everyone who comes into the Hope Fellowship office smile.
Afterwards, they met back at Hope Fellowship and talked about their experiences. Not everyone reacted positively—some said “no thank you” to the gifts that were extended to them, and one man took his flower and threw it in the garbage. The students felt deflated by these experiences and agreed that it was like life—sometimes you hit a bump in the road which slows you down, but you can’t allow it to stop you. They realized that they may have positively impacted lives, even those who were not willing or able to accept the gift offered. Each act of kindness was a seed sown in someone’s life.
There were probably a lot of people in Courtice/Oshawa talking about the kindness that was shown to them on Jan. 28. Someday we, or someone else, may hear a story about how this one small kindness was the first step on the road to finding Jesus.
- Alice, Katherine, Evelyn
One group wanted to hand out carnations at the Kingsway Plaza, but found another group had already settled there. As they thought about where they could go, they saw people shivering at the bus stop. “That’s it!” they thought, “We can give flowers to people waiting for buses.” So they drove up and down Highway 2, jumping out at bus stops to surprise people with a flower.
The group that was at Kingsway Plaza decided to head over to Tim Hortons after they handed out flowers. They pooled their money and bought a Tim’s card and then stood in the cold to pay for people as they came through the drive through. Each person was greeted with a smile and the explanation that they were being treated to their Tim’s coffee that evening.
Yet another group stopped at Whitecliffe Terraces, a retirement home, to surprise the receptionist with the gift of flowers. They also delivered flowers to the home of someone they thought could use the encouragement, weaving them into the wreath on the front door.
And one group bought a stuffed animal, which they gave to a young mom and a smiley face balloon which is making everyone who comes into the Hope Fellowship office smile.
Afterwards, they met back at Hope Fellowship and talked about their experiences. Not everyone reacted positively—some said “no thank you” to the gifts that were extended to them, and one man took his flower and threw it in the garbage. The students felt deflated by these experiences and agreed that it was like life—sometimes you hit a bump in the road which slows you down, but you can’t allow it to stop you. They realized that they may have positively impacted lives, even those who were not willing or able to accept the gift offered. Each act of kindness was a seed sown in someone’s life.
There were probably a lot of people in Courtice/Oshawa talking about the kindness that was shown to them on Jan. 28. Someday we, or someone else, may hear a story about how this one small kindness was the first step on the road to finding Jesus.
- Alice, Katherine, Evelyn
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