Unexpected Blessings

Recently, while tucking my daughter in one evening, we had a precious conversation that went something like this:

Her: I love you Mommy.
Me: I love you too.
Her: You are the best mommy in the whole world.
Me: Well thank you!  Why is that?
Her: Because you love me, you play with me, you take me to wonderful places and on great adventures. You are awesome!

Now, I am by no means a perfect mom.  That would be my best friend, whom I lovingly coined my "mom hero", who on her very worst days, still manages to make homemade birthday cakes that would make any professional baker jealous, runs her kids everywhere AND creates science experiments for them out of the normal everyday life we live in and all while teaching, working, home schooling and doing it all with a smile on her face! SHE is AWESOME.

Me, I am just an average, every day mom, wife, marketing professional, friend and well, all around blessed woman facing sometimes difficult circumstances, but all the while knowing there is a reason and purpose for this crazy life I lead.

But here is the best part of that whole conversation with my baby girl.  It was an unexpected blessing.  I didn't ask for it, prompt her to say something nice or buy her affection in any way.  She just did it out of the overflow of her heart and she blessed me so much by sharing her heart with me in that quiet moment.

So why do I bring it up in this forum today?  Because the reality is that in order to be successful in this world as a mom, a teacher, a businessman or woman, you NEED people in your life to encourage you, listen to you, push you to excel and yes, even bless you unexpectedly.  It is like someone adding wind to your sails of success and propelling you into the next part of your day, season or journey. 

And when you take the time to be someone's unexpected blessing during the day with a kind word or deed, you can completely change their entire atmosphere and breathe life into an otherwise dull and dreary day.  So I am challenging you today to be the unexpected blessing in someone's life.  Give out of the overflow of your heart and watch carefully to see how your gift begins to change the world around you. 

In the end, I bet you begin to see more unexpected blessings in your own life too, so be sure to tell me about them so we can celebrate together.