I’ve always heard that the quickest way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.
Honestly, I think that is only half correct for a couple of reasons. First of all, I am woman and I love food– so someone can sure win my heart via something deep-fried and covered in chocolate. (Although I try to avoid that… most of the time. Something about healthy foods and maintaining a healthy weight. Sigh.)
The second reason that I believe that old saying is only partially correct is due to the fact that while I don’t know how easy it is to reach someone’s heart with food, I do know that if you show them unexpected kindness (especially in the form of a sweet treat) they sure do open up their heart in a hurry.
Just such was the case last week with our latest Factor of 7. For those of you just joining us here at 7 Days Time, Factor of 7 is a once-a-month act of kindness that my husband and I do in the name of Jesus per the leading of the Holy Spirit. Then we document the outcome and share with you wonderful folks. (For more details and past Factor of 7 experiences, click here.)
Here’s how things went down: My wonderful mother-in-love Lex and I spent a few hours on Thursday cooking up a storm in our kitchen. (This is an act of love in itself since cookies are not necessarily our speciality. Cupcakes, yes. Cookies, not so much.) We made several dozen cookies, including chocolate chip, sugar, snickerdoodles, and a couple pans of brownies.
Then we packaged up our goodies for delivery the next morning.
Three words: Om. Nom. Nom. (PS: Thanks for this opportunity, Jesus!)
Friday was go time. We spent the day loving on the people that are typically forgotten or taken for granted in our neighborhood… You know, those service people that we usually only talk to when there’s a problem, but yet without them, we would be in deep trouble.
Our first sweet Jesus bless-ees? Our faithful garbage men. On Friday morning, I was plastered to the window, waiting for the rumble of that big green truck to come down our street. (Can you say: Creeper?) Finally, they rounded the corner and I ran outside barefooted in my workout clothes, plate of cookies and notebook in hand.
Needless to say… They were kind of surprised. I had to yell to be heard over the roar of the rumbly truck. After they picked their jaw off the ground from the plate of cookies being thrust into their cab, they responded to my out of breath request of “How can we pray for you today?” with a laugh and sparkle in their eyes.
Oscar the truck driver said he needed God to bring him a wife. Leo wanted a truck. I laughed and encouraged them that those were both great prayer requests. (God cares about all our hearts desires!)
It. Was. Awesome. (And I’m sure quite a sight for my neighbors.)
The next person to bless was our mail carrier. We recently received a notice that the mail route was changing and time of delivery would differ daily, but would arrive sometime before 5 pm. So to avoid sitting around the house all day, I put a bag of cookies in the mailbox with an ink pen and sticky note that asked how we could pray for him. He took the cookies– and wrote us a note back. Too stinkin’ cool.
Other Factor of 7 folks that day included the gals at our housing office who keep families moving in and out of our army neighborhood. One of the girls’ prayer requests involved a custody battle over her step son. (See, I told you people pour out their hearts when you care!) We also stopped by two of our Fort Benning entrance security gates to deliver cookies and take prayer requests. They were surprised. And moved.
It’s simply incredible how a few cookies on a plate from a total stranger can move hearts in such profound ways.
Today, we encourage you to think about the ways that you can share the love of Jesus with others around you… Have you ever done anything like this before? Share your experience and leave a comment below!
How sweet it is to be loved by Jesus… and share that love with others, even if it comes in the form of a plate of sugary snacks– baked with love.
Sweetened by Christ,
SGK
“How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” ~Psalm 119:103
