Julie Lavender

Use your writing as a gift to others

By Julie Lavender

I recently shared the story below on Edie Melson's The Write Conversation blog. As we head into Christmas, I'm reminded that as writers, our words are firstly a gift to us from the Almighty Author. How we use those words God gives us can then be used as a gift to others. And often, our words don't return void, as they bounce right back to us as even more blessings. It's a wonderful cycle! 

Write on, my friends, and use your gift of writing as a gift to others, but most especially, as a humble sacrifice to the One who gave you the words in the first place! 

Share good news with the gift of writing 

I didn’t bring a gift to the birthday celebration. In fact, the gentleman celebrating his special day was the one who distributed gifts. Ninety gifts to be exact.

Joseph Montgomery, from a small town in south-Georgia, celebrated his 90^th birthday in a rather unusual way: he gave away ninety one-dollar bills to perfect strangers.

“I’m celebrating my 90^th birthday,” Mr. Montgomery said each time he handed over the money. “I’m doing a random act of kindness and I want you to have this one-dollar bill.”

Just a couple of months prior to the event, Mr. Montgomery didn’t know what the words ‘random acts of kindness’ meant. He’d shared with his daughter on the phone that someone in front of him had paid for his purchases at a dollar store. “She left without giving me a chance to thank her – why would she do that,” he’d asked his daughter.

“Dad, she was doing a ‘random act of kindness,’” his daughter explained. That was new terminology to Mr. Montgomery, but not a new concept. He’d been the recipient of gifts from others and he’d been the giver before, too.

With help from his children, Mr. Montgomery knew what he wanted to do for his 90^th birthday celebration. And I had the pleasure of covering the story for my newspaper as a freelance reporter.

Recipients at the coffee shop where Mr. Montgomery’s birthday morning began were shocked and elated as he made his rounds among the coffee patrons. Humbly approaching each table, Mr. Montgomery first said, “Excuse me for bothering you,” before he began his brief monologue.

A college student stood abruptly before the elderly gentleman finished speaking and pulled him into his arms in a bear hug. 

A group of kids asked the birthday celebrant to pose with them for a picture. The barista couldn’t stop grinning when she received her gift.

In fact, each person’s eyes lit up in delight and smiles spread across faces when Mr. Montgomery shared his money and kindness.

Perhaps one of the most interesting exchanges of a random act of kindness came about when he approached one coffee-sipping patron. I was taking notes and snapping photos as quickly as possible, and I recognized the gentleman as a pastor that I’d interviewed previously. Pastor Donald Chavers was reading his Bible and going over sermon notes.

But the best part? I knew Pastor Chavers was an amazing singer, and I asked him to gift the birthday gentleman with a song. Not only did the pastor lead the entire group of patrons in a ‘Happy Birthday’ round, but he also serenaded Montgomery with a beautiful rendition of ‘Amazing Grace.’

Later, Pastor Chavers told Mr. Montgomery’s daughter how special the act was to him. “For a long time, I’ve kept dollar bills in my Bible to give out to others as the Lord leads me, as a reminder that says, ‘The Lord hasn’t forgotten you.’

“Mr. Montgomery’s dollar gave me a chance to feel what other people feel and … wow!”

The singing pastor said he planned to keep the birthday dollar in his Bible as a reminder that the Lord hasn’t forgotten him, either.

And just before leaving, one recipient handed Joseph Montgomery’s daughter the sleeve from her coffee cup to give to her dad. Written on the sleeve were these words:

“Mr. Joseph, Happy Birthday! Today is the anniversary of my losing the most important man in my life, the man who raised me and taught me about unconditional love and joy. It is always a hard day for me. His name was Joseph. Thank you! I can’t help but feel connected through the celebration of your life. YOU were my gift today.”

Ninety small gestures – mere one dollar bills – for each year of Joseph 

Montgomery’s life. What priceless gifts a birthday gentleman offered that day.

And though I came to the party bearing no gifts, the words that appeared in my newspaper the next day became my humble gift to the Montgomery family. Words that I prayed over before hitting “send,” and words that I pray became a gift to readers, words that I hope encouraged them to find their own “one-dollar-bills” to give away to others in random acts of kindness.

May God bless you, my writing friends, with good gifts – His words – to share with others this Christmas season. 

Happy Birthday, Jesus!