The Surprised "Oh's!"

Where Tom and I live, there are hmmm... probably 8 Indian reservation gas stations within a ten-mile radius. Two stations are located on one of our most frequented supermarket and yard sale routes and one of those has a "we always pump your gas for you" policy. Rain or snow or shine, you don't need to get out of your car--you just sit there while one of the guys fills your gas tank for you, sometimes in a rain coat, getting all pelted with raindrops.




Always, Tom asks the attendant to give us either $20 or $40 worth of gas and always while we're waiting, I'll hand Tom an extra dollar bill to go with that $20 or $40. He places the dollar bill on top and when he hands the money to the attendant that's when we hear the surprised, "Oh!" Which is always followed by a sincere "Thanks." Have a great day."

We love hearing that surprised, "Oh!" The following, "Thanks," is pleasant, too, but that "Oh!" reminds us of how easy it is to bless others. To make them smile. To make them feel appreciated and no longer invisible. It also reminds us that most people go to these reservation gas stations to save money and so there's no way they're goinna add a dollar they just saved to some guy whose job it is to pump gas. Not all people think that way, but face it, many, many do. Hence the surprised, "Oh's!" we hear.

Tom and I choose to live a different way. The occasional times we go out to eat we always tip more than required (unless the server was awful, but that's extremely rare). Or we slip a dollar into the tip jar at our local hole-in-the-wall take-out place or the jars at the supermarket for special causes.

Spread seeds, fling them everywhere. Give, give, give. That's what I remind myself often lest I become a fearful hoarder. Lest God has nothing to work with so to bless me back ("Give and (then) it shall be given unto you.") Lest we plug up the flow of good things just waiting to come streaming into our life.

Besides, there's just something sweet and musical about those surprised, "Oh's!"





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Need to giggle a bit today? Here's a beyond-delightful blog post for you. Her writing reminds me of Bailey White's, a favorite author of mine. You'll love this post, I promise.



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Alert! Forgot to tell you the Spring Peepers returned last week! Oh happy, happy day, for truly they mean Springtime whether it looks like Springtime or not.