Welcome to Ministry Monday. Today’s post is part of a series called Simple Service – easy ideas for taking care of your church family one act of kindness at a time. Take my Simple Service Challenge this month and post your pics to Facebook & Instagram with #simpleservice!
I’ve done it, but it’s never happened to ME before!
And the feeling was very humbling.
I’ve bought other people drinks through the drive-thru as an act of kindness or to “pay it forward” as the popular motto goes. One Mother’s Day, I bought coffee for a mom and daughter in the car behind me at Starbucks. I drove away, imaging their faces when they pulled up to the window and were told they had just scored two free drinks. But I never imagined how they felt.
Not until last week, when I pulled up to the drive-thru window and the cashier told me my coffee had been paid for.
“You don’t owe anything,” she said, smiling.
I don’t know the individual who paid my bill. Chances are, if they knew me they wouldn’t have paid it. Because had my windows been down, they would have heard me yelling at my kids to be quiet so I could place my order.
But I think that’s the point.
Christ pays our debts, which in all fairness cannot be compared to a paltry bill for a cup of coffee. But knowing the true state of our hearts, he pays the debt we owe because of sin all the same. We don’t contribute anything to our redemption. There’s no scraping up spare change from the car console. There’s no gift cards or special points to redeem.
“Because of the great love with which he loved us,” Christ settles our debt. And we are free – free to live, free to serve, free to love as he intended.
So, if you are taking the Simple Service Challenge this month, stir up love among your church family with this simple act: buy them a cup of coffee.
Here’s how I’ve seen this played out in the life of my own church plant:
Surprise someone in your church with a gift card for coffee
Think about your church family. Do you know of a frazzled mom, weary staff member, or a faithful servant that would enjoy a mid-week caffeinated pick-me-up?
Write them note and include a small gift card enough for one cup of joe. In your note, be sure to tell them how thankful you are for them and how they’ve blessed you. Assure them of your prayers. (This happened to my pastor’s wife, and she told me it was the simplest, but biggest blessing).
Hand deliver a special coffee to a special friend
Imagine how encouraging such a small act can be to someone who is struggling, sick, or has just had a terrible day.
Although it’s always a good idea to confirm the recipient will be around to drink the gift! (A friend once served me this way. I was so encouraged that it turned a positively terrible day into a day of thankful praise.)
In fact, the day someone paid my bill in the Starbucks drive-thru, I was attempting to serve the very same sweet friend who once surprised me with a cup of coffee. I wanted to ‘repay’ her sweet kindness by delivering a cup of coffee to her front door.
I couldn’t help but laugh at the irony. There are just some acts of service that can never be repaid. As a friend told me: the Lord blesses with grace upon grace.
“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works…” Heb. 10:24
So, stir some love up today! Take the Simple Service Challenge and bless someone in your church family with a cup of coffee!
Don’t miss the other posts in the Simple Service series:
- The best way to encourage the mother of a challenging child
- A missional meal for new moms or new move-ins
I’m linking up with Renewed Daily.
It’s so true that acts of kindness are contagious! There’s just something about that warm fuzzy feeling under your heart that can’t be replicated any other way than giving! Great post!
Blessings, <3 Shelly
Thanks for stopping by Shelly! Yes, you are right! Kindness is contagious! I immediately wanted to get back in line to pay for someone’s drink!
I’ve always wanted to try the “pay it forward” thing at a drive-thru. This encouraged me even more to just do it! The other ideas were great, too! Simple, but worth it, if it makes someone’s day!
Blessings! Ann @ Christ in the Clouds
Ann, thanks for stopping by! I’m so thankful you did! Yes, this is a fun way to serve others!
Love this! Friends have done this for me and it’s amazing how such a small thing ministers to the heart. Some friends don’t drink coffee though. So yesterday I wanted to encourage a friend and made her one of her favorites–banana bread. Little things add up to big things when done with love wouldn’t you say?
That is so sweet! I would certainly be blessed by banana bread!
My pastor just talked about this very thing yesterday and how loving community should permeate everything we do. Great post!
Hi Stephanie! So happy you stopped by. I love this activity because it can be done even as a mom with kids in tow.
I’m so enjoying this simple service series – so refreshing and encouraging! Truly simple acts of love.
Susan, thank you so much for reading! I appreciate you!
I did this at Burger King one day and as I did it, I could see the person behind me counting their change in their hand to pay for their $4 meal! So I KNEW it would be a blessing to them! It’s so much fun to be able to do something for someone else w/o them knowing 🙂 We do this every Christmas – I linked to it. We put together goodie bags the kids decorate and on Christmas day, we go deliver them to those who have to work on Christmas. I LOVE pulling into the gas station and telling the attendant we don’t actually want gas but want to give them a gift and say Merry Christmas. We brought one older man to tears one year. And my kids fight over who gets to give the bags out 🙂 We will be in Vegas visiting my mom for Christmas this year and she’s already getting supplies together and is so excited! This is the first year she’s ever been able to do this with us!