Day 8: Shovel Sidewalks - 30 Days of Kindness

Day 8 of 30 Days of Kindness is an example of how sometimes plans don't work out, and then God provides new opportunities right out of the sky. Sometimes doing an act of kindness is a big event with a lot of work and planning. Other times, doing an AoK is as easy as taking a walk around your block.

Originally, Day #8, was going to require a team of volunteers and fixing up something for the veterans at the Oneonta American Legion. Communication was a little rough and the veterans outreach didn't work out. As an alternative, Laura and I were going to do our go-to AoK and clean bathrooms for businesses, but Laura had to work late and it's weird showing up to clean past 8pm. At the end of the day, I thought we would have to call it a day and only complete 29/30 Days of Kindness, then it started to snow.

When we woke up, there was 5+ inches of snow on the ground, which is a bit of a surprise for March. I saw the snow as an opportunity to achieve kindness #8. I got out of bed earlier than normal, bundled up, and went outside with my snow shovel, ready to clean some sidewalks and bless my 6th Ward neighbors.

Oneonta during the morning after a snowstorm is a sight to behold. There's a city ordinance saying everybody has to have their sidewalk cleaned by 9am or else face a fine. Therefore, from 6-9am, every home owner is out shoveling their property before they go to work, which makes for a great opportunity to lend a helping hand and build relationships with  the neighbors.

Originally, I had a grand vision to shovel all of Gilbert St. in one hour, but when I went outside, I was surprised to find that most of the sidewalks were already hit before 7am by the neighbors owning snow blowers. It seems like whoever owns a snow blower will go ahead and hit their whole block, my own sidewalk included. It's nice to live in such a generous neighborhood, and I was still able find a few houses that needed a good shoveling.

There was one house where I cleared the sidewalk and left a kindness card and a note on the front door. For all the other properties I shoveled, I was able to spot a neighbor in the act of clearing their driveway and saddle up beside them with my shovel to help get the job done. In the few minutes of giving them a helping hand, I was able to talk to each person about the church, give a kindness card, and explain what our acts of kindness projects are all about.

I got tell a mom about the upcoming events we have for children. I was able to help a middle school student finish off the driveway and tell her about our church. I was even surprised to shovel the sidewalk for one woman who had actually heard about our new church!

While shoveling walkways was not the most high-impact act of kindness that we could have planned for, the point here is that you can still make an impact even without planning. Sometimes, all it takes is a willingness to serve and God will present you with an opportunity to tell five new people about His love.

Feel free to contact us if you wish to participate in any more of our planned upcoming acts of kindness. Or tell us in the comments your own story about an unplanned act of kindness that you took advantage of to bless others!