Kindness to Others

You may remember in my last post I mentioned that I have set on a course to complete 50 acts of kindness this year, one each week, until my 50th birthday. I am happy to say that I have completed the first 3... and BOY, has it been FUN!

Week One:

While cleaning through my scrapbook supplies, I came across several things that I knew I wasn't going to use. After all, I hadn't used them in the 18 years that I have been scrapping.

Among the stash there was buried several containers with large silk flowers of many bright colors. I am part of a great online community of girls who share the same affinity for scrapping that I do. I decided that I would send them each an envelope stuffed full of flowers.

I sent DH to the post office with eight fat envelopes, containing no return address. He sent them off and I waited to see if any of my buddies would figure out where the flowers came from. Since then I have gotten messages from two of them who figured out who had sent them, since they knew no one else who lived in Kentucky. It is so much fun surprising people!

Week Two:

There are two cousins who are part of our after school program, which I oversee. These two kids are rarely able to purchase something for themselves just because they want it and often depend upon the kindness of others to get things that they actually need.

During my shopping at Michael's a few years ago, I discovered the fat ink pens they sell in the dollar bin. I try to keep three or four to use at school because no one has any like them. No one tries to walk away with my pens because they know that I am the only one at school who uses them.

On a recent night at after school, the boy cousin asked me, "Will you give me that pen?" I told him that if he kept working hard for us, I would try to get him one. On my very next visit to Michael's I came back with two pens, one for each cousin.

I made sure that one of them was generic enough for a boy and the other was girly enough for a girl. The pens were a hit!

Week Three:

About a week or so ago, one of my fellow teachers who is pregnant posted that she was having a craving for watermelon. Of course, watermelon is out of season and in our small community, our stores don't have a great variety of fresh produce available.

My son is going to college in one of the bigger cities in Kentucky and they have large produce sections in Kroger as well as Trader Joe's. I told him to stop and look for watermelon at the stores on his way home this weekend and that I would pay him back.

He was able to purchase two nice seedless "baby" watermelons.

I called up my friend to make sure that she was home and told her that I had something for her. When she saw the watermelons her face lit up and she hugged them up tight. "I'm going to cut into one right now," she said.

I am really having fun doing these acts of kindness. I have discovered that I have been missing a lot of things that went on around me. Just listening more and paying attention to those I come in contact with has helped me realize a lot about the people near me.

I have been surprised how simple it has been to decide on whom to bestow my act of kindness. I think that God is helping to guide me to be in the right place at the right time. The things that I have done haven't been BIG. They haven't been something that would totally change someone's life, but hopefully they have been the type of thing that would brighten someone's day and let them know that someone out there cares about them. I am anxious to see what else God sends my way in the coming weeks.