Random acts of kindness 
It’s been a maddening season & a season of madness! Indeed 2020 has been something else and a lot more! It started as a year of high hopes & sneaked in many surprises. 
Kai! The Bayelsa & Imo state ‘courtlections’! That ‘funny’ Nigeria strain of Covid 19. The imperial governors & their imposed lockdowns. Then the palliative wahala. The preacher battles. The blasphemy wars. And the #ENDSARS protests. Etc. The only normal has been the ‘federal govt’ appointments. And the year is not yet done! 
But then, we are still here! Don’t believe Fela; there is no suffering & smiling here! Our Naija smile is as real as it gets! We are the ‘not easily broken’ specie. We are the ‘no shakement’ nation! 
The calendar magic 
And the year will pass! That’s the joy of the calendar magic for the average Nigerian. We take the end of year literally! It helps us achieve a mental reset. The 31st December night stops time & the 1st of January ushers in a new life. That’s it for us & guess what, it works! Bull to scoffers! 
Yes, the year will pass, but it’s memories will remain. To many, it will be the memories of the things the year did to them, while to others it will be the memories of what they did in the year. And to some, it will be both! 
Changing the narrative 
While the year has not been very ‘nice’ to many of us, yet, each one of us can help to make the year good to someone else. We can do this in small & big ways. We can supplant the negative narratives about 2020 by planting new & positive memories in peoples minds. 
One way to do this is by intentional ‘random acts of kindness‘! #RAOK
A random act of kindness is a simple way to light up your world by putting a smile on the face of someone. It is goodwill & good deed that expects nothing in return. It doesn’t have to be sacrificial. It doesn’t have to be big. It just has to come from a good heart! 
Think about doing something 

• offer to do the laundry for that single parent with young kids 

• quietly pay the bus fare for everyone sitting in your row 

• promote the album of that talented but unknown musician 

• organize young people & do a neighborhood cleanup 

• settle the medical bill of that poor family from your village 

• pay the school fees of that indigent student in your church

• buy groceries for that neighbor who lost his/her job recently

• give out your wearable clothes & shoes to someone who lacks

• PLEASE add more to this list!

Some things are unforgettable
And who knows what one act of kindness will really mean to someone! It may be like that unforgettable perfume that that lady poured upon Jesus. It was the fragrance that cancelled the stench of rejection, abuse & gloom around him, on his way to the cross!
Jesus decreed that anywhere his story is told, that unnamed woman’s story must be told also!
“And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me.
“Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her. –  Mk 14:6;9
Maybe, your act of kindness will be the dinner table story of a family for a generation. I pray it is!

Prayer:
May this year end in glory for you! Recover every lost moment in these last moments of the year! The resistance over your destiny is broken & every embargo is lifted in Jesus Christ name! May you become Gods good hand to others in Jesus Christ name!
Much Love
George IzunwaLead Pastor