For the past 7 years I’ve been the Vacation Bible School Director for my church. By the time the fifth and final day of our program rolls around, I am usually completely burned out due to tons of organizational, administrative hours and non-stop prayer spent from February through June.

Last year was no different. It was the final day of the program and time to hand out the awards to the group of children who raised the most money for our mission project. We always have a change contest throughout the week. The group which brings in the most donations receives a prize. All proceeds go towards a specific mission.

I always wait until the final day of VBS to purchase the prizes. This is because I never know ahead of time what group will end up winning, and I need to make sure I purchase enough. It was hot that day and after running to pick up my supplies to put together something special for the winning team, I decided to stop through the Starbucks drive thru line and treat myself.

I ordered a Venti Black Tea Lemonade and continued to the window to pay. When I arrived the young man working the drive thru line told me the car that was in front of me had already paid for my order.

This may seem silly, but at that moment I felt as if God had smiled on me. It wasn’t that I couldn’t afford my drink. It was the idea that someone thought to do something kind for me – Someone who didn’t know me.  It was a beautiful surprise that kept me smiling all evening.

After that moment, I couldn’t wait to do something kind for someone else. Giving is contagious and causes great joy. As 2013 was coming to a close, the memory of my blessing at Starbucks stayed strong in my mind. I wanted to do my part to inspire giving amongst others. And through that, Go Give was born.

I bet the person who so generously gave me that drink has no idea I still pray for them, or that they helped begin a giving campaign for the whole year of 2014. See what a little giving can do?

Throughout the month of January I’ve been giving away coffee. Every Monday evening I teach a Bible study.  As a group we decided to Go Give together. We went to Starbucks on a cold, snowy, Monday night and every woman who walked through the door was greeted and given a 5 dollar gift card for coffee. What followed were stunned, thankful, faces decorated with smiles. It was worth every moment and every dime spent!

Many of you have told me you were participating in Go Give. So, if you are a blogger, you can link up and tell your Go Give stories. And, even if you don’t have a blog, please share your stories in the comment box. As my kids would say, “Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy!” I want to hear from you!

Bloggers, to link up, please use the Go Give button in your post and link back by using agirlonthedoorstep.com somewhere in your post as well.

February’s Go Give challenge is… Drum Roll Please….

Go Give an act of service. You won’t need any money to participate in this challenge. You can be creative!  Clean someone’s home, make a meal, bake a cake, etc…

I love to cook. Whenever someone is sick I usually will be the first volunteer to make a meal. It’s a simple way to show them I care. But this month, I’m not waiting for someone to be ill for me to decide to cook for them. I’m going to show up on an unsuspecting friend’s doorstep with dinner. I’m doing it for no other reason than to say, “I care about you!”

Remember, February 10^th – 16^th is Random Acts of Kindness week! What a great week to #GoGive!

Have a beautiful day, sweet friends!

PS: Have you heard about The Mercy Retreat?