kind people

Help People, Never Hurt People

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What we Are is God’s gift to us.

What we Become is our Gift to God.

-Dr. Robert Anthony

I remember my pastor preached in one of his sermons, that you are most like, the five people you hang out with. So think about the five most frequent people you spend your time with.

Are they positive, encouraging, and uplifiting people? Or are they negative, discouraging, and belittling people?

Everyday we all have the same 24 hours yes, but none of us know what each others battles are. Remember that there may be people in your circle that look up to you and admire you. So don’t ridicule their progress (however minimal it may be in your eyes).

That woman at Wal-mart that your friends just mocked, might be fighting cancer as we know it. You know…..how these analogies go. Don’t do that! Don’t shame people. Don’t mock them or make fun of their misfortune. Don’t social media shame them. It’s not right.

I have a personal little mantra I created for myself to help me remember to always be sweet. I have bad days just like everyone else. My mantra is:

Help people, Never Hurt People

-Deanna Montalvo

That came about because of our church mission: To be a hospital for a hurting humanity.

Be wise and associate with people who are leaders. Leaders know how, and when to give constructive criticism. But steer clear of peers and coworkers that only want to play sadistic pyschological games with you.

An example of that would be if your boss asked you to do something a specific way, and later reprimanded you for doing it (the way they told you to do it.)

Stay away from those that are vengeful or vindictive. People who spread false information about you or try to influence others opinion about you.

I’m very much a loner because of my distrust for people. I’ve been betrayed by so many people in my life, that I struggle to let people in. All I can do, is my very best. So that I can positively influence the people I love and care about.

Remember, if your supervisors at work are not positive mentors, maybe they have never had one. Set the example. Because we all can learn from one another. It doesn’t matter where you are in the organization as far as position goes. Just adopt this as a lifestyle habbit. Be inspirational and influential.

What works for you may not work for someone else. So what makes you think your way is much better?

-Dr. Robert Anthony

Works Cited: Dr. Robert Anthony, Think Big A Think Collection, Berkley Aug. 1999

Image: http://www.freeimages.com, Ruphuloza Signore Militia.

A Story About How Benevolent Giving Impacts Communities

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You will find, as you look back upon your life, that the moments that stand out are the moments when you have done things for others

-Henry Drummond

From The Treasure Chest

Papi use to tell me stories about growing up in poverty in Mexico. I remember how he would chastise and lecture us about our wastefulness.

He would shake his head with disapproval if we were being wasteful, and then would proceed to tell us about his experiences as a young boy in Mexico.

He would tell us that he was so poor that even as a 15 year old boy…he didn’t have shoes to wear. He would get teased and bullied by other kids at school because he didn’t have shoes.

To make matters worse…he would work out in the heat to help abuelito. With no shoes, I can’t even begin to imagine what the hot dirt did to his feet. Blister and burn him for sure.

He would tell us his stories with pride. He knew he had worked hard. They would pay him with livestock. He was giddy about a pig he earned once.

That was how it was back then. People didn’t have money, so…they bartered. They would “borrow” my Papi for field hands and manual labor…but pay him with what they had.

Papi didn’t tell us this because he wanted sympathy or empathy. Rather, he used this as a life lesson to teach us that we should be good stewards of everything we have. If he caught us being wasteful, we would hear about it.

I was blessed to have him as my Papi for 60 years. In those years I have many fond memories. Some of my favorite, are when he would take clothes and supplies to his family in Mexico. He even managed to buy trucks and take them to his brothers in Mexico.

I remember we would put a camper on the truck and load it up with boxes and boxes of clothes in the back.

I even remember when we took the clothes to an impoverished town to deliver the clothes. I will never ever forget what I saw and how I felt.

I saw my Papi calling all the people out to the truck. Papi had left the camper at the rancho. So the people just hopped right on the bed of the truck and began digging through the clothes. Smiling, laughing, and, taking what they could use.

I felt happy to see people were so elated to receive used clothes. I felt proud that my Papi loved his gente so much, and that he had a big heart for giving. He never forgot about his people.

To this day…I am inspired when I see mi gente buying ropa and zapatos y mas to take to Mexico. I work at a thrift store and am lucky to meet many amazing people.

Not just Mexican people, but many other cultures too. I have seen African women buying in bulk to send to Africa. And many others too.

One day a lady came to my register to check out. I struck up a conversation with her and discovered that she was making her purchase as a ministry gift to the impoverished people in remote areas in Mexico.

I got excited when she told me about her planned trip to make the delivery. I was so happy to hear this because it brought back many memories of my trips to Mexico with goods to deliver to familia and the poor.

I asked the lady to take lots of pictures and to please remember to come back and show me. Well several months passed by.

Then one day the lady came back into the store. Honestly, I didn’t think she would come back, although I hoped she would.

She showed me her photos. We talked and we cried. I listened to her tell about her experience and how thankful the people were. She was so impacted by the people that she said she would do another trip.

They asked her for food. But she said it’s very difficult to bring food from US to Mexico because of restrictions. But she wants to raise funds so that when she is in Mexico next time, she can bring them food too.

I have shared her gofund me link after this post so that you can read her story and maybe you will feel led to make a charitable contribution to her personal ministry in helping the poor.

Or perhaps you can just remember to give when and where you can. If you can’t give goods or funds….please….give kindness. Give your time by volunteering when you can.

Kindness is free. But nobody uses it anymore. I am very disheartened by the callousness of people’s hearts and actions these days.

This topic has been on my heart lately. I am not a perfect woman. I make mistakes. But I am proud that I had parents who taught me to give.

Parents that, despite being dirt poor, were able to bless many many people. I pray that I can be as kind a person as my parents. As kind as this good samaritan lady.

God doesn’t look at the size of your giving. He just wants you to give what you can. I learned from one of my favorite books, The Blessed Life, by Robert Morris, that you can’t outgive God. This book has the best teaching on the subject of giving and tithing. I recommend it to everyone any chance I get.

No matter what or how much you contribute, your giving has a positive impact. I pray that God would bless both the givers and the receivers, for we never know on which end we will be.

https://www.gofundme.com/37itjc0

Works Cited:

Morris, Robert. The Blessed Life

Wallis. L. Charles, The Treasure Chest. 1965. Harper & Row Publishers Inc. 49 East 33rd Street ,New York 16, N.Y.

Good People | Buena Gente – Part One

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A very frequent colloqiualism I heard growing up in the Mexican community, was:

“El/Ella es buena gente.” Which basically translates to: “He/She is good people.”

I also read that “good people”is not proper English. It is considered Black Slang in A Dictionary of Afro-American Talk by Clarence Major 1971 1513N.

I recently celebrated my 35th birthday on February 13. I am so blessed that in these 35 years I have had the privilege to meet some really “buena gente”,”good people.”

The reason I first started my blog was because I lost the most “buena gente” person that I knew. My papi.He passed on to eternal glory in July of 2016.

He was truly “good people.” He was brave, intellectual, empathetic, resilient, kind, he had a sense of humor, and so many other things.

As I have previously written, I miss our candid talks the most. Towards the end of his life he was just too ill, to have one more talk with me.

And although I desperately wanted to ask him to, I refrained myself from doing so. He was suffering greatly and I didn’t want to be selfish.

I think that’s what I mourn the most. That I can never fill that void. That I can never talk to him again. I mean he can hear me, but I can’t hear him.

Maybe that’s why my blog is the prescription that I need to give me a little bit of pain relief.

He was the only one who would listen to me. I mean really listen to the words I was saying. Then he would THINK about his response.

He would give me sound, rational advice. He just always knew what to say. I never know what to say or how to say it, hence the reason I try to write it instead.

Now that my dad is gone my joy comes from meeting all the “good people” in the world that I come across.

It makes me happy when I meet someone (especially complete strangers) who are willing to chat up a storm about whatever strikes our fancy.

I love to see their raw emotions. I love to find a way to connect with them. I enjoy listening to them tell me their stories. And I get excited to share them with you.

I hope you continue to follow my blog because in part 2 of my “Good People” “Buena Gente” Blog Mini Series, I will be sharing with you the story about how I met the son of a Former NFL Hall of Fame’r who is the epitome of ” good people.”

This is one story you won’t want to miss.

I dedicate this mini series to my loving father. My hero. Jose Guadalupe Montalvo. You are greatly loved and missed Papi. I hope I make you proud. I love you! This February, this “love” month, I will share my love by telling the stories of these “good people” with the world. Even if I’m only reaching 60 people right now.

It is not what he has, nor even what he does, which directly expresses the worth of a man, but what he is.

-Henri Frederic Amiel