Acts of Kindness

Bonnie shares about how an act of kindness can really impact a life. I was standing in line at the grocery store and I noticed how rude the person in front of me was acting to the cashier.  Talking on her cell phone and ignoring the cashier's attempts at conversational pleasantries, she was too busy to be polite.   On the other side, waiting on people who are angry or impatient can be tough.  In college I worked for the university's Information Resources and answered the help desk phones.  Some people were patient as I walked them through the steps to fix their computer problems.  Other people would almost reduce me to tears.  I remember one particularly conversation in which a faculty member accused me of trying to delete all of her emails!

It doesn't take a lot to be nice - a smile, a casual, how are you doing? or a complement can make someone's day.  We often take for granted the people that serve us throughout the day - a waiter, janitorial people, cashiers at Starbucks, toll booth workers, or secretaries.  It only takes a small gesture of kindness to brighten someones day.  But often times it is the rude people we encounter or bad experiences that stick with us an color our whole day.  Which is why I want to share a story about how much it can affect someone or even a whole entity when consideration for others is lacking.  Sam Davidson shares an experience with a non-profit that led him to stop donating.

At Relief, we know that you are the life-blood of what we do. We want to thank you for your donations, for buying subscriptions, for supporting great literature and being loyal to our mission. We want to know what your experience has been with Relief.  We ask for your support so we can continue to provide new stories, poetry, and inspirational creative fiction for you to read. Share your experience with us! If you connect with us, share why you gave or consider giving a gift if you have been encouraged or inspired by Relief.

Relief News Tuesday 11/9/10

As we said last Tuesday, exciting things are happening behind the scenes at Relief. One of the biggest developments is that we are adding to our editorial and support teams in preparation for 2011, which could be the best year for the journal so far.  One thing has become clear to us over the almost five years we've been in print: Even more so than funding, bandwidth, paper, and ink, the most critical resource we have is the amazing staff of volunteers who put their time and talents behind our efforts to publish the best spiritual and faith-based writing. So it is with great pleasure that we introduce our new Editorial Assistant, Stephanie S. Smith. Stephanie graduated from Moody Bible Institute with a degree in Communications and Women’s Ministry, which she now puts to work freelancing as a book publicist and writer through her business, (In)dialogue Communications, at www.stephaniessmith.com.  After living in Chicago for four years, traveling to Amsterdam for a spell, and then moving back home to Baltimore to plan a wedding, she now lives with her husband in Upstate New York where they make novice attempts at home renovation in their 1930s bungalow.  She is a member of the Young Professionals of the Southern Tier and blogs for Moody Publishers at www.moodyfiction.com.

If you are interested in helping out with Relief, check back in for updates on open staff positions, or go ahead and send a resume to editor@reliefjournal.com.

Relief News Tuesday 11/2/10

Relief News Tuesday is making a comeback! And we have a lot of news to share in the coming weeks. Today, we're excited to report that some great people have been printing some very nice things about us:

Relief Love from Sojourners

In their November issue, the good folks at Sojourners have included an article called "The Borderlands of Christian Publishing" which features Relief and our Founding Editor, Kimberly Culbertson. The article, subtitled "Writers who want to let both their faith and their creativity run free are finding a home in the Christian literary underground," captures and celebrates Relief's story and vision.

Sojourners is an excellent print magazine (they focus on faith, politics, and culture) but they also have a lot of great content online at sojo.net, including this article. To read online, you'll have to give them your email info, but the read will be worth it. Check it out and then leave us a comment to let us know what you think!

Want to read more? Kimberly has also blogged about seeing Relief celebrated in print. Click over to her site to check it out.