Keep spirit going by paying it forward

Many years ago I was blessed by the words of a dear friend by the name of Rita Davenport. She had an infomercial on early morning television. I got up about 30 minutes before my family and I would turn on the television and listen to her. She grew up in Tennessee and her message was one of love. She sold her motivational tape series for what was an enormous amount of money for me. I don't quite remember how much it was, but I saved up my money and purchased it for me. I got my money order and mailed it off to her.

The name of her tape series is "It's Time for You!" It was 13 tapes that I couldn't wait to listen to. Each one helped me become who I am today. I listened to them over and over again until her words became my thoughts. I put them away several years ago and forgot about them. Then out of the blue I found them and put them in my tape player and started to listen to them once again. The words I had forgotten came back, and I realized where my thoughts had been kindled from her words.

One of the stories Rita told was about her father. He would always stop to help a stranded motorist. Rita would complain that she was going to be late if he stopped. He would remind her that one day if she had trouble on the road a kind stranger would help her out because he had taken the time to help this person. He would say, "What goes around comes around!"

This thought has stayed with me. A couple of years ago for my birthday I made it a movie day and watched chick flicks all day. One of the movies that touched my heart was "Pay It Forward." So for my birthday that year I asked our members to be aware of the needs of others, and when an opportunity arose, to pay it forward. The stories would be my present. It was the best birthday ever. It lasted all year long and continues to bless me.

One story came in the other day, and we sent it out to the world. Many times the only person who knows about the gift is the receiver. The giver rarely tells what they have done. They don't do the act of kindness to be seen of men. They do it because they feel the urge and they have to. I know how that feels. This is how our mentoring got started. It would have been wrong for me not to have done it. The urge is so strong that to ignore it would be like slapping God in the face. But you don't do it out of fear but out of love.