excuse me waiter, check please

Day 23 found all four of us, setting out to make a difference. The entire Gollihue family of 4, searching ways to be over the top kind to someone...someone unsuspecting. We tossed kindness ideas back and forth until one stuck. Elliott suggested that we pay for someones dinner at the restaurant where we were going. That was it!!! We all loved this idea and couldn't wait to make it happen. We decided that we would randomly pick someone and tell the waiter we wanted to pay for their meal....we didn't want the people, who we were paying for their meal, to know it was us.

We headed to Outback Steakhouse as this was the restaurant we all decided on. The parking lot was packed on a Friday evening at 8:30. However, we were seated at Outback immediately...no waiting at all.

We sat down and the table closest to us was a precious young couple with a small baby. It immediately took me back to when we were younger and our children were too.When I looked at this young couple I remembered times of stress of work, finances, and no sleep. We agreed, as a family, that they were the chosen to be the recipients of today's act of kindness.

We ordered our soft drinks and food. When I should have been handing the menu back to our waiter I help it up and shielded my face from the table we wanted to pay for their meal. I didn't want them to suspect that it was us. I was prepared to have to explain it a couple of times and as soon as I said my family and I are on a kindness journey and we want to pay for that table's meal. He said, "my family did that too." He further stated that they did it as s family from Thanksgiving to Christmas and then talked about what act was their favorite. He told me one of the acts he chose to do was sing on someones answering machine. I had a WOW moment! Not only did he "get" it but he and his family had just recently done an act of kindness journey themselves.

I told him we didn't want them to know it was us. He said I will tell them it is being paid for by someone in the restaurant. When he took the bill to their table I heard him say you owe nothing someone else paid it for you that is here in the restaurant. I heard the young wife and mother say, "you are kidding, right?" The husband got up and walked around the restaurant to see if he recognized someone that he could thank. We all sat there with HUGE smiles on our face as they were so excited with their free dinner and the act of kindness they received.

The kids were so excited they were bouncing up and down in the seat. I was certain that one of us was going to give it away. Elliott & I were just as excited as the kids about this act of kindness.

The waiter was bubbling over with kindness and a gentle soul. He sent a text message, while we were there, to his mom about what we were doing. He found out the name of the book his mom purchased at Thanksgiving time that jump started his families kindness journey. He said the book his mom has, has lots of great kindness ideas in it.

I felt that the waiter being a Christian and saying Christians do these things, his family just recently doing the kindness journey...all was a sign that we are on the right journey.

Thank you God for this kindness journey with my family. Thank you God for my family. God please bless our waiter and his family and the kindness journey that they did. God please bless the young couple who we paid for their dinner. Praise God whom ALL blessings flow. God, you simply amaze me more and more everyday.

I have said it before, and I will say it again...there are No coincidences in life everything is a Godincident. To me, that was evident tonight with our waiter and this young couple.

Wow, God!! Thank you!!!

Where will we be tomorrow? Stay tuned. Until then.

On your mark, get set, be kind.

Love you to the moon & back,
Annie, Elliott, Cody & Miss Ellie