Act of Kindness – Week #10!!

“Be an encourager. One sincere word of encouragement after failure is worth more than a day of praise after success!”

     I returned earlier this week from being gone almost 10 days on a family vacation to Florida! We road tripped for four of those days going through Illinois, Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida and then back later on that week! It was such a blessed week full of some of the people I love the absolute most in life and in such a beautiful location, Pensacola Beach! I am happy to say that being states away from home for a week and a half did not stop me from showing kindness to strangers in a new way!

     Jumping to another topic…I have always liked taking notes, and I am talking about hand written notes! I also have always liked writing notes in cards to send to family and friends! Hand written notes feel more personable to me, and I will probably never grow out of doing it (even with technology continuing to change things)! I also like uplifting quotes and encouraging Bible verses! There are several of these around my home proving this! When I read a Bible verse or quote or think of something encouraging in my head, I write it down right away! Sometimes its grabbing a piece of paper and a pen, sometimes it is emailing it to myself and sometimes it is texting it to myself...whatever is closest! I just do not want to forget the uplifting or encouraging sentence or two! I also like sticky notes and if you come to my desk at work you would see that I write out my to do lists on them and also have a couple of my favorite quotes on a sticky note taped to my desk to read every day too!...So adding a road trip to Florida, encouraging words and hand written sticky notes together, you get a simple but great act of kindness idea!

*The act of kindness this week…show kindness by anonymously leaving encouraging notes in a public place for a stranger to find!! 

 

  

*My experience with the act of kindness…On the drive to Florida and back, whenever we would stop to take a break or eat, I left a hand written sticky note in the bathrooms with an encouraging, positive or uplifting message! There were several times that I left the note and as I walking out of the bathroom, another lady was walking in. I could not help but think about the possible influence of the note she was able to see! This is just a small and simple way to show kindness but to strangers it could have great power! I looked up quotes and Bible verses before leaving for vacation but it does not have to be so planned out either. You could use a napkin, envelope or back of a flyer! You could leave it in a public restroom, at the gym, on a park bench or on a gas pump! You can scribble down whatever comes to your mind..."You are beautiful just the way you are!” etc! The goal is to show kindness by being an encourager! Like one of the sticky notes I left said, “Be an encourager! The world has plenty of critics already.”

     A few encouraging words could leave someone with a smile on their face or make their entire day better! I do believe that writing anonymous encouraging notes to complete strangers to find in a public place could make the world a better place!  Once again, let me ENCOURAGE you to come along side me and start to be intentional about showing kindness to strangers and being encouragers in the process!! 

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 #9!!

“People often forget that kindness is free!”

     This week’s blog post is going to be a little different than the rest have been. My first eight “Act of Kindness” blogs explain ways to show kindness to a stranger face-to-face or participating in an act of kindness that will be given to a stranger that you will never have contact with. The goal  is to concentrate on small intentional words and/or actions that can show God's love and kindness to strangers through me! I will continue to write and share new blog posts with ideas for acts of kindness to encourage you to come along side me and make showing kindness contagious!!

     God has also tugged on my heart recently to focus more on the people in my life who are not strangers. There are several Bible verses that command us to care for other people. "Other people" are family, friends, co-workers, a collage school mate from years ago etc. It could be someone I see each week at work, talk to once a week at church, see once a month at a family gathering or even see once a year at a social outing. I decided to blog about this act of kindness idea to encourage not only myself but others as well! So here we go…

*The act of kindness this week…show kindness by stopping what  you are doing, asking someone “how are you?” and then giving them your full attention as you listen to their response!!

     Have you noticed that “Hi” is almost always automatically followed by “how are you?” Hopefully most of the time, this question is asked genuinely by someone who takes the time to stop and listen but sometimes it is by someone who continues to walk by you while asking the question and never really stops to hear your full answer, sometimes by someone who is totally distracted with someone else or something so they are only half listening to you etc. Is “Hi, how are you?” possibly more of a put together greeting now?

      Have you also noticed the difference when someone stops what they are doing and gives you their full attention when they say, “Hi, how are you?” I know for me, it makes me want to truthfully tell that person how I really am instead of just respond with the normal “fine” or “good”. People do to an extent show you they care no matter how or when they ask “how are you?” but what I am learning is those three words are powerful.  “How are you?” and your actions and words afterwards can show someone that you really do care or unfortunately leave someone questioning if you do care at all. I found the below quote about caring about someone that I believe is very true.

  

“Someone who cares will ask you how your day is. They want to know what you’re doing; they want to know if something significant has happened in your life. You don’t have to talk to them all the time, but when you do see them, they will want to know how you are. Not out of some sort of obligation, but because they genuinely want to know. Someone who cares will listen. Now, there are times when they won’t listen well. We all do that sometimes: we’re distracted, or so excited we talk over each other. But a person who cares will listen to you, because your opinions matter to them. The things you say make some sort of impact on them – your opinions make them think, or make them laugh. But in their way, whatever that way is, they will listen.”

     "How are you?" is actually a pretty deep question if you think about it. It is not a surface level question about how a person’s day has been or their upcoming weekend plans but a deeper level question of how they are as a person and the issues going on in their life…good and not so good. Another thing to remember is that not everyone answers the question “how are you?” honestly. Usually when someone responds with “I’m fine”, they really are not fine. It might be that something is really wrong or just that they have not found the “good” in that day. I know two things for sure… I do not want to have someone lie to me with “I’m fine” because I did not show I cared when asking "how are you?" and second, by showing I care, I want it to encourage someone who might respond with “I’m fine” to see the good in the day. One of my favorite quotes is, “Every day may not be good, but there is good in every day!”

 *My experience with the act of kindness…This week has just been the beginning of my experience with this. Again, it takes being intentional to let “how are you?” not be just part of your greeting to someone but really showing someone you care! Here are some ideas that I have started doing.

1)      When you see someone, asking “how are you?” is a great question but intentionally try to stop what you are doing and really pay attention to them as you ask the question and also as they respond! In the end, really only kindness matters. Pour out love and kindness and fill up other’s lives with it while you can!

2)      Next time you are asked the question, “how are you?” try to not respond with a one word answer like fine, tired, good, great etc. How about respond with something positive or finding the good in the day! We are all blessed in countless ways and that does not change even if we are feeling down. Examples: "It is a beautiful day so I am happy" or "God is faithful so I am grateful" or "Tomorrow is Friday so I am excited"! Then of course open the question back up to the person. I guarantee it will cause a little more conversation than the typical “Hi, how are you?” “Fine.” “How are you?” “Good.” AND it will probably leave both people confident that the other person does care how they are doing!

     Let me leave this blog with one more comment. God will never forget you. He loves you! He cares so deeply about you! That truth will never change even when your day to day does. So…how are you?! How is your day going?! What do you have to be thankful for?! We are blessed way beyond what we deserve!! Let’s be intentional about showing love and kindness with how we care for others by the simple words, “Hi, How are you?”

  

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 #8!!

“Real heroes do not wear capes or their name on the back of their jersey…they wear dog tags and their country’s flag on the arm of their uniform.”

*The act of kindness this week…show kindness by sending a “thank you” in the mail to someone currently serving and protecting our country in the armed forces!!

     As I was thinking last week about what intentional act of kindness I wanted to do this past weekend, it did not take long to realize that July 4th was that coming Friday! The Wikipedia definition of the “Fourth of July” is as follows:

“Independence Day, also commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States of America commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from Great Britain (now part of the United Kingdom). Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games, family reunions, and political speeches and ceremonies, in addition to various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States. Independence Day is the National Day of the United States.”

     When reading the above definition, the first thing I noticed was that my family and I celebrate the 4th of July with several of the ways that were first listed…fireworks, barbecue and a family reunion! I am also very thankful that before we eat lunch at my Aunt and Uncle’s on the 4th, we pray for and thank God for the men and women who have served and continue to serve our country because freedom is not free! However,  I decided this year (thinking about an intentional act of kindness centered around the Fourth of July prompted this) that getting together with family and having a barbecue etc. is celebrating the Fourth of July and our freedom, but I wanted to take it all a step further and from now on call July 4th “Independence Day” instead. To me, there is so much more meaning when we realize we are celebrating “Independence Day” and not just the “Fourth of July”! In making this mental change this past weekend, the deeper recognition of the holiday made me want to not just pray for our armed forces but to also physically show kindness to the current men and women who are serving and protecting the United States of America! I pray that this is now an annual Independence Day activity on my part…so let me explain how I did it and encourage you to do the same!!

*My experience with the act of kindness…I heard about “Operation Write Home” from a lady at my church, Mary, who makes beautiful homemade cards and who also got me started in making homemade cards a couple years ago! Operation Write Home’s mission is, “Supporting our nation’s armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as “AnyHero” cards of gratitude to encourage them.”

     Due to time, I chose to start with the AnyHero mail! (I do plan to later make the blank homemade cards for the armed forces to receive, write in and send home. Expect a blog on this later in the year!) Each of the boxes that the armed forces receive from Operation Write Home is full of blank homemade cards and also a bag of AnyHero mail. AnyHero mail can be cards, letters, drawings/coloring pages from kids etc. AnyHero mail contains messages of gratitude and encouragement for the men and women serving! It is also called AnyHero mail because it is given out to those who get little or no mail. 

     I spent a couple hours one evening making some cards and writing an encouraging message on them as you can see by the pictures! The website said, “Inexperienced crafters should consider making AnyHero cards at first, writing a note inside the card to a hero. It takes the pressure off to make something fancy, while learning the ropes of card making! As experience takes over, you’ll be ready to roll!” This means that you all can join in this intentional act of kindness and show love and support to our armed forces! It could be homemade or bought with a hand written message from you! We will never know the extent of what this act of kindness will bring to the men and women serving and protecting the United State of America!!

Guidelines from Operation Write Home on AnyHero mail (http://operationwritehome.org/):

     1) Mail can be short or long (Examples: 2-3 page handwritten letter, a hand written note in a store bought note card, kids can draw elaborate pictures or color pictures etc).

    2) Start your AnyHero mail out with “Dear hero”, “To an American hero” or “Hello” etc. The term hero is used so that the letter can apply to any branch of the armed services. 

    3) Examples of what to write in letter: “Anything. Thank them. Tell them the freedoms you’re grateful for. Share your life with them if you wish – describe your family, community, hobbies. They love to hear that life is going on well here at home – so send them a news clipping about a happy story in your hometown, or a cartoon that will make them smile. Tell them your pet’s latest antic.” 

    4) Examples of what to not include in the letter: “Politics, negative news, anger about the war or society. Our heroes need positive encouragement.”

    5) No envelope is needed. The AnyHero mail is reviewed and then placed in a Ziploc bag on top of the blank homemade cards. 

    6) Please also enclose a completed Packing Slip when sending the AnyHero mail so that you can be notified when it safely arrives. You can download a packing slip on the website listed above.

    7) Mail the letters/cards/coloring pages etc to: Operation Write Home, 35205 13th Pl SW, Federal Way WA 98023. 

“Are these letters important? You bet! Listen to one airman:“It’s hard to put into words what it feels like to read a note of thanks and appreciation from people that don’t even know us. A few of us teared up a bit and all we can do is just pass on our sincerest thanks for the cards and letters. It lifted our spirits today and will help carry us through our journey here in Afghanistan.” T. N. C., MSgt, USAF”

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 #7!!

“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted!”

*The act of kindness this week…show kindness by placing coupons around a store in front of the item the coupon is for so that the next customer looking for that item will find the coupon and use it!! 

I am a proud “coupon person”! I like going through the free papers and ads we receive in the mail and cutting out coupons for food places and items we buy at the store! My Dad and I have a Father-Daughter dinner date twice a month on Thursdays. The majority of the time when we are figuring out where we want to eat, I pull out the food coupons I have been saving in my car and let him know the options. I believe I got this habit from my Dad because any other time when we are talking about going out to eat or buying something he asks, “Do we have a coupon?” 

On the other hand, I also think I got my liking for shopping with discounts from my Momma! Kohl’s is a great example of this! Kohl’s almost always has their items “on sale” with a screen that says what the original price was compared to what the sale price is. Plus, I usually have a 20% or 30% off as well! The discounts and sales at Kohl's usually always leaves my Mom and I buying something with the good feeling that we did not pay full price for it! :)

With all this being said though, I have watched a couple episodes of “Extreme Couponing”, and I fall nowhere close to those “coupon people”! If I had the time, it could be a fun hobby though because I am all about being a bargain shopper and saving money!!

*My experience with the act of kindness…I intentionally cut out some coupons of food items and put them in my car so that the next time I went to the grocery store I was ready to put the coupons in front of the food items and leave them for the next customer to use! It was kind of fun finding the food items and then being sneaky to leave the coupons without the people around me seeing! I wanted the coupons to be a complete surprise to people! I again wonder who found the coupons and if they did not think twice about picking it up and using it or if it somehow brightened their day or made them smile! I know I would have an instant boast of happiness if I found a coupon in front of an item that was on my list to buy! The coupons were not for much but when you have several coupons, it really does add up and saves some money!

As you can see on this blog post, I took just a couple pictures of my time at the grocery store putting out coupons! Next time when you open your mailbox and get some “junk mail”…before you recycle it, look through it and see if you can intentionally use a coupon to show kindness to a stranger! This is just another example of a way to show kindness that is free of cost but takes some time and effort! Happy intentional couponing!!

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 #6!!

"The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention!"

*The act of kindness this week…show kindness by finding a food item that has been in your pantry for a while and use it to brighten a stranger’s day!!

     It is pretty safe to say that the majority of our homes have several non refrigerated items sitting in our pantries or cabinets that were bought a while ago but have not been ate yet! It could be because we have the intention of eating it soon, or the items were on sale so we bought several or sometimes simply because we were grocery shopping without a list and ended up buying items in case we did not have them at home. The act of kindness this week encourages us to intentionally look at what we have sitting in the back of our pantries and think of a way to use them to show kindness to a stranger!

     An example: I believe that it is once a year that the Boy Scouts in our area put a plastic bag on the front door of our home and on the pickup date you are to put the plastic bag outside with canned goods inside. My Husband and I have gone to the grocery store and bought some cans for this before but the majority of the time we just go to the back of our pantry and find several canned goods that were bought a while ago and have not been used! This act of kindness totals less than $10 of canned goods. Once a year while doing this food drive, we are teaming up with other people’s kindness and giving to result in feeding countless strangers and brightening their day!

   

*My experience with the act of kindness…When I say a “food item in your pantry”, most people will instantly think canned goods, but I used POPCORN! You know...the bags of un-popped popcorn that come in a box that you like to buy at the grocery store (usually the “movie theater butter” kind or the “low fat” kind that you add your own butter and salt to because it doesn’t taste very good)! When you think of popcorn, what is the other think that comes to mind real quick?! A MOVIE! Come on…who doesn’t like popcorn with a movie?! And an even better question is who would like FREE popcorn with a CHEAP movie?! The answer is probably EVERYONE! With the ticket and popcorn prices at the movie theater in town continuing to rise, I have found that I like to rent a Redbox movie instead of paying to watch one in the theater! Redbox played a big role in my experience with the act of kindness this week!

    My Mom and I had a day off work this past week, and we spent the day together! It was very enjoyable, and we spent a majority of the day finding birthday cakes in the St. Louis area on the Cakeway to the West region-wide scavenger hunt! Happy 250th birthday St. Louis! It sure was fun starting to find the 250 cakes at signature sites throughout the city and area! 

     I intentionally thought of the act of kindness the evening before and found popcorn sitting in the back of my pantry. In the morning, I met my Mom with a couple bags of popcorn and a permanent marker in hand. I wrote on the bags: “Free! Please enjoy some popcorn with your movie! Have a great day! (Act of Kindness)”.

     At the end of our birthday cake hunt, my Mom and I found a Redbox and left the bags of popcorn there for the next one or two customers to take and enjoy with their movie! Sidenote- As I was writing this blog post, I prayed for the strangers who found the popcorn. They are not strangers to God though! God knows who they are and what their needs are!  

     The majority of our homes have bags of popcorn that have not been used yet (and we don't have a plan to eat it soon either) but if you don't, it probably won't cost you more then $5! This is a perfect example of how you do not always have to spend a lot of money or time on acts of kindness but how being intentional is the key! Lets search our pantries this weekend and find some food items that we can use to brighten a stranger's day! Be as creative as you would like and then please share your experience with me!!

Act of Kindness – Week #5!!

“Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.” Ephesians 4:32

*The act of kindness this week…while paying for your food order at a restaurant’s drive thru, show kindness by paying for the person’s order in the vehicle behind you!!

     Several of us have probably heard about people showing kindness by paying for a stranger’s food order in a drive thru line! Maybe you have done this act of kindness or have been blessed with the stranger in front of you paying for your meal! What a pleasant surprise it must be, especially if you are not having the best day! I have never paid for a stranger’s meal or had a stranger pay for mine so when I thought about what act of kindness I wanted to intentionally do this weekend (with being out of town from Friday morning to Sunday evening), showing kindness by paying for a stranger’s meal was the pick!!

*My experience with the act of kindness…I made a homemade note card before going out of town on Friday in preparation for the act of kindness! While being out of town, my family and I almost went the whole weekend without having a meal at a fast food restaurant. That is probably a good thing except when you are wanting to show kindness by paying for the person’s order in the vehicle behind you! Sunday lunch came, and I knew it was going to be the last meal before getting back in town so even though my sister suggested a sit down restaurant, we ended up in the drive thru at a Wendy’s in Indiana! I did not expect for us to get lunch so soon so I had to quickly write a message on the homemade note card (in doing so, I forgot to take a picture of the finished product for this blog post). The message that I wrote on the note card that would be handed to the cashier to give to the vehicle behind us said: “Happy Sunday! Enjoy your meal and please pass along this act of kindness! Ephesians 4:32”

     Wendy’s was a very busy place while we were there too! After paying for our food, the cashier quickly handed us a couple drinks and a couple bags of food. A quick look made us realize that our orders were missing items so the lady had to open the drive thru window to hand us what we were missing several times before we had everything. My husband was in the driver’s seat with our credit card and the homemade note card in his hand the whole time, and I could tell that we were both thinking since we have asked the cashier already for several things that maybe we should not ask her to do something else...BUT being intentional sometimes means stepping out of our comfort zone and a lot of times in my case it means being brave! When the cashier asked if there was anything else we needed, my husband very kindly said there was one more thing and that we would like to pay for the order behind us!

     As we were pulling away from Wendy’s, I could not help but look at what vehicle was behind us. It was a minivan with a lady a little older than me driving it. My husband prayed before we started eating and asked a special blessing over the person/family in the van behind us! Maybe us paying for her meal just simply put a smile on her face and brightened her day! Maybe the Ephesians verse on the homemade note card would lead her to opening a Bible! Maybe she will pass along the same act of kindness and touch other people’s lives as well!

     As we started eating, I kept thinking about the Wendy's cashier lady and how very kind and patient my husband was with her the whole time! I can’t image how many angry customers she gets when orders are messed up. I pray that with my husband being kind to her and since she was “the person in the middle” during the act of kindness, she also smiled and enjoyed her day!

     What I learned the most from this experience was…while focusing on showing kindness to the vehicle behind us, we just might have showed as much or more kindness to the cashier lady! Our intentional act of kindness was done with a credit card and note but the kindness we did not really realize we were showing until after it was done was through my husband's words and actions! Let that sink in some…how very powerful our words and actions are!!

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

***A big congratulations to my Grandparent's on celebrating 55 years of marriage this weekend and to my cousins, Amber and Alex, on the birth of their first baby girl!! It was a wonderful weekend away spent with family celebrating these two great events!!