Goliath, Good Deeds, and Greed

“Three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind; the second is to be kind; and the third is to be kind.”  - Henry James

Winter storm Goliath brought on a first for me, a blizzard in Texas. Never have I experienced anything like the snowfall we received here in Lubbock or the aftermath of the storm.



The city and county declared a state of disaster days ago, leaving us all waiting for help and the city to slowly return to normal. During this time, the community has came together to help each other. Local groups worked to get nurses, first responders, and essential personnel to work on treacherous streets. Strangers helped free stuck vehicles, doing so not for profit, but out of the goodness of their hearts. It's been quite heart warming.

As always, bad seems to accompany the bad. In the aftermath of Goliath, there are those looking to make a quick buck off of the misfortune of others. I've read of exorbitant fees for snow plow rental, drive shoveling, and tow fees. Then there was this story on the local news that left my blood boiling.
Stories like this and others of people taking advantage of something like severe weather make me even more thankful to the kind, compassionate strangers int he world. It really isn't hard to be a kind person. To all those who have joined together as a community to help out, I offer a sincere thank you. People like you make our community great!

Ugliness, the kindness of strangers, blessings, and a giveaway

Last week was almost surreal. Maybe it seems that way because I'm still medicated, but maybe it really was as amazing as I think it was. I'm going with the amazing thing. Either way, it was a blessed week.

As those close to me know, my teeth are in truly terrible shape and have been for awhile now. It's so weird to go from never having a cavity until I was 21 to all of my teeth breaking and shattering by 35. Not only do they look so terrible that they make me have awful social anxiety, but they've started to make me pretty ill. At first it was just painful, what I assumed was normal for exposed nerve. But, then the infections starting coming along with high fever, swelling, and pain like I can't explain. The past year or so with them has been nightmarish and excruciating. With a low paying job and no dental insurance, it takes saving for months to make a dental appointment. 

On Monday night this all came to a head in a way I never saw coming. I was curled up in bed, tears flowing from yet one more excruciating abscess. My gum looked like it had a marble shoved under it, there was swelling, and nothing I took even made a dent in the pain. My son had apparently had enough. He took some pictures that had been taken a few weeks before, my intent was to send to local dentist seeing if I could get in with someone on a payment plan. Anyway, he took these pictures and did something so kind and thoughtful it took my breath away. Check it out here. The site took down the pics, basically calling them gruesome. Gruesome? They are in my mouth. Anyhow, my son was so concerned about my health, he put together this fundraiser thing. I was incredibly moved.

That on it's own would be a sweet story, but it gets better. People I had not seen in years donated to my cause. Strangers chipped in. Before I knew it there was over $200 put together, enough to at least get me into a dentist for xrays and a consultation. I was stoked! Tuesday rolled around and the abscess burst at work. I spent hours in the ER, getting antibiotics and pain meds for a massive infection. It seemed my son had put the fundraiser together just in time, my teeth had reached a critical level. The nurse at the hospital warned me multiple times that dental infections could get out of hand quite quickly and to be mindful. 

Some more donations have been made, making me hopeful for the first time in a long time. I am incredibly blessed by the generosity of others. The timing of it all, some have called it coincidence. Myself, I say God is good, so incredibly good. Really the kindness shown to me by so many has just left me in awe. Even $5 can help change a life and it means so much that people care so much. I'm still running fever, feeling that run down awful feeling you get with a fever, and am trying to rest a lot. But, my heart is overflowing with gratitude. 

So, a few friends blessed me with gift card this week. One to my favorite place to get shakes since I can barely eat sometimes, which I was thrilled with. Another was to Starbucks, a thank you for "pushing through and having a sweet spirit even when you are hurting" says the card. It did my heart good. All these blessings and kindness have me wanting to spread the love and kindness. This week is going to be all about random acts of kindness and paying it forward for me. It starts here and now, sort of. One of my winners will win this $20 Starbucks gift card. Sound good? Just use the Rafflecopter entry form below. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway