Act of Kindness – Week #30!!

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” James 1:17

  My husband, Blake, and I are happily expecting our first child in September! We are overjoyed and so thankful for the countless people who are sharing in our excitement! What a blessing from God our child is already!

  My first trimester brought about a significant decrease in energy and required a lot more sleep, but that is normal, and I praise God for Him continuing to create our baby inside of me! Our baby is so worth the wait, lack of energy and tiredness!

  At my 11 week appointment, I heard baby’s heartbeat on a Doppler stethoscope, and Blake and I saw our baby for the first time on the ultrasound! Amazed, excited and in so in awe of God was how I left my appointment!

  I am currently 16 weeks (in my second trimester) and have had a pretty easy pregnancy so far with no morning sickness or nausea! What a blessing! Another huge blessing is that my sister is also pregnant and due with her first child two days before me! As you can imagine, the past couple months for me and those closest to me have been a lot of talk about pregnancy and babies…and this brings us to the next intentional act of kindness idea!

*The act of kindness this week…show kindness by intentionally leaving diapers or baby wipes on a changing table in a public restroom with a note!

*My experience with the act of kindness…I have started noticing all the changing tables in women’s restrooms since becoming pregnant. I am sure that is convenient for mothers with small children who need to be changed…so I intentionally bought a package of baby wipes and made an act of kindness card with my stamp! I then left the items in my car or purse for the next time I would go out to eat or into a store where a bathroom would have a changing table. I found myself at Petco on Saturday running errands since my border collie, Jack, was in need of more food. I was not sure if Petco was going to have a changing table or not, but I was happy to open the bathroom door and see it mounted on the wall! I left the baby wipes and note and then smiled on my way out! As a mommy-to-be, I could imagine that finding a free package of baby wipes in a random public bathroom would brighten my day! I hope it did for the person who found it and that they might also be moved to pass along kindness!

P.s. Please comment below with your own experience with this act of kindness! I would really enjoy hearing about it!!

Act of Kindness – Week #29!!

“When you carry out acts of kindness you get a wonderful feeling inside. It is as though something inside your body responds and says, “Yes, this is how I ought to feel!” Harold Kushner

   When I was in high school, my group of friends liked to eat at Steak n Shake! It would not be my first choice when eating out, but I do like their food and milkshakes! At the end of every meal though, I would put a quarter into a gumball machine at the front of the store and enjoy a Seedling gumball! Seedling gumballs come in assorted fruit shapes and flavors such as apple, orange, lemon, strawberry, grape and watermelon! My favorite was strawberry and watermelon! Inside each seedling gumball was candy seeds which reminded me of nerds candy! I still remember that I would chew off half of the gumball then dump the candy seeds into my mouth before eating the other half of the gumball! They were delicious until they lost their flavor...which was not long! 

   Years later, can you believe that one of my husband’s favorite restaurants is Steak n Shake?! The first time we ate at the Steak n Shake in our city, I looked at the gumball machines while my husband was paying. I was saddened to see no Seedling gumballs! I still put a quarter in a machine and had a gumball though...it is basically tradition!

*The act of kindness this week…show kindness by intentionally leaving quarters in a 25 cent gumball/candy machine!!

*My experience with the act of kindness… I thought about Seedling gumballs recently and so I told my husband that we needed to go to Steak n Shake soon so that I could intentionally do my next act of kindness! He gladly accepted! We enjoyed our dinner and then as he was paying, I used a quarter to get some candy. I then left quarters in the machines that were 25 cents.

   I hope something was small as finding a quarter brightened someone's day! I know there had been several times when I did not have a quarter at the end of my meal at Steak n Shake, and I would have been so excited to find a quarter already sitting in the machine waiting to be turned!

P.s. Please comment below with your own experience with this act of kindness! I would really enjoy hearing about it!!