January 20, 2014

Hello blog followers, friends & family, 

Today my kindness started at 3.30am when I talked to a friend online having a rough time! My friend was unable to sleep & needed someone to talk to so I chatted to her for a while (on Facebook)! And since I am a recovering insomniac I gave them some ideas of how to get some sleep, apart from trying to be a listening ear! Being a good friend is sometimes the hardest and, yet, one of the most rewarding kindnesses you can perform! It's tough seeing someone you know & love hurting! But just being there for someone else can make the world of difference! 

I also welcomed a friend who visited because she couldn't get to her house as a result of bushfires near it! It's pretty rough! Bush fire season has been particularly rough in Australia this year with over a hundred fires burning all over the country as I write this! Thankfully, for my beautiful friend, the roads were opened again by the time she left our house! And it was safe to go home! But I gave her lots of cuddles, after all the fires are pretty scary! 

I shared a favorite childhood movie with mum! Because I really love "The Little Princess" & mum had never seen it! 

I supported a friend who called in tears & who just needed a a friend to talk to! I did my best to encourage & support them... But sometimes it's hard to find the right words! Sometimes silence says more than words! Mind you, words like "I love you", make a big & positive difference to those around you too! 

With conversations I have had today, please tell the people you love how you feel about them! Sometimes they don't know it! And your words will make the world right again! 

I love my friends dearly, some are more like family than my actual blood relatives!

I am sending love today because even though I may not know you, you need to know you are loved! Thank you for being a blessing to those around you! And thank you for being a blessing to me! 

With lots & lots of love

Luv Daena x

Paying it Forward

Hi all,
I just wanted to share with you one of the pay-it-forwards that I did vicariously today!

The story starts about 5 months ago my mum & I helped out at a community day for the nursing home my dad lives in! We put in heaps of hard work & helped them raise a total of about $3000AUD! As a thank you the nursing home staff gave us a HUGE box of chocolates (1.32kgs to be exact). We gratefully accepted the gift along with a bunch of flowers each! We were spoilt but knew neither of us could eat the chocolate (my mum has diabetes & I'm trying to avoid getting it!)!

So instead we thought of donating it to a local emergency services like the police station! We made a few plans that fell through but it finally happened! today I could pass that HUGE box of chocolates along!

It just so happens that a huge brushfire threatened my sisters house, & many more houses yesterday, and they had to evacuate! but my sister didn't have enough time to grab anything on her way to pick the kids up from school, not knowing it would be too dangerous to return after that! so she and her kids had the clothes on their backs & their car, my brother-in-law was at work and only had the clothes he had with him etc. it turned out that it took 150 firefighters, and several airplane water bombers all afternoon & all night to contain the situation, but contain it they did! My sister & her family was allowed to return home today.

My sister came down to my house with her kids for lunch (she didn't have any food to give them for lunch as before school they still weren't allowed to return home) so she bought them down to us & we all had lunch together!

Now my sister & I had talked about this box of chocolates a few times (after all our house/unit is tiny & the box is massive). And today we were reminded of the importance of our emergency services, particularly the fire fighters!

My sister lives down the road from their local volunteer firefighters station, so I decided to give the chocolates to her for her to give to any firefighters she came across (if they were still at the station as it was early evening). So that is what my sister did!

She dropped the chocolates in, after seeing that several cars were still at the station and gave them the chocolates & told them thank you for everything they had done to keep her house & all other houses safe in the massive blaze! The fire fighters were very thankful & my sister left in tears! She felt as blessed as I did to pass it on!

I was just grateful I still had my sister, & her family safe while men and women volunteers & career fire fighters put their lives on the line! Thank you to everyone who made a difference in that fire & all other fires here in Australia (& around the world)!

My sister & I now know how much of a blessing it is to pay it forward!

Luv Daena x