The Big 22!

First off, Sunday was so much fun running around spreading kindness with my family. Even though it was a lot of work (and even some rushing) to get them all done, it was definitely rewarding! I know I’ve kept a lot of you waiting for me to share what my family and I did and I would have posted this yesterday, but I needed to give myself some time to rest and rejuvenate!

Here they are~

 

1-I have a tendency to oversleep and my birthday was no exception. I had planned on baking some crumb cake muffins to take over to treat the Round Hill firefighters with a warm, homemade (well, prepackaged) breakfast. My sweet father went ahead and made them for me and then we took them over on our way to church. I rang the door bell, but it took a while for a firefighter to answer. I think I woke him up, but at least he got some yummy muffins! :) Although no smile, I’m positive he enjoyed them. Hopefully, he shared!

2-Sitting in the church service, my sister leans over to ask if I have any gum. I go through my purse and open the pack to find…one piece left. I thought about keeping it for myself, but decided to give it to her. This may seem like a “not even think twice about it” act, but my sister and I don’t exactly get along. For me, this was a big gesture! I love me some gum!

3-This may seem like a “dumb blonde” moment (even though I have brown hair) or maybe a little unbelievable if you don't know me. We were trying to think of people we could give a grocery gift card to and my mom mentioned that she sees the same homeless woman at least twice a week who, obviously, could use that money. She’s on a first name basis with her and has mentioned her multiple times. My mom, being the amazing woman that she is, does so many things for people that it’s easy for me to get confused about the different people she helps. She mentioned the homeless woman and I blurted out, “Isn’t that also the woman you gave a ride home to from the grocery store?” Ugh, so embarrassing. It provided my family with laughter multiple times the rest of the day.

Maybe I’m just embarrassing myself by posting this, but I hope you can see past this goof to recognize how beautiful and important laughter can be. E. E. Cummings once said that “the most wasted of all days is one without laughter.” I believe this to be so true which is why I feel that something wonderful came out of this rather embarrassing goof.

4 & 5-Nonetheless, we ended up buying two gift cards and took them over to an equal opportunity housing complex and left them with notes in the lobby.

6-My sister’s youth group was collecting canned foods and bottled water that night so I bought some to help aid in their hurricane relief effort.

 

7-I thought it would be fun to tape some money onto a little fridge at the checkout line for someone to buy a drink.

 

Now that I think about it, a lot of these acts involved the grocery store. It's such a dreadful place for most people. Hopefully, I helped make someone’s trip better!

8 & 9-My sister and I rid the parking lot of carts taking them up to the front of the store. A few months ago, I witnessed a cart get taken by the wind down a pretty steep hill and slam into a parked car. It left a huge dent and I can only imagine how many times that happens a day.

As we were walking back to the car, an older woman was struggling to push her cart up the hill so I caught her in time to load her car, chat a bit and return her cart. She had an adorable puppy in the front seat :)

10-WGTS 91.9 does something called “The Drive Thru Difference.” It’s when you pay for the person behind you at a fast-food restaurant, toll booth, or wherever you’re in line somewhere. My sister wanted Taco Bell so we figured that’d be the perfect place to do this! What made it funny was that my mom was so excited to do it that she forgot to order at the sign! We had to order at the window which made the people behind us wait a little longer to get their food. They probably thought we paid for their order because we took more time than we should have, but it was still a fun gesture! Who knows! Maybe we inspired them to pay for the person behind them!

11-This is my favorite! We picked up 22 items consisting of crayons, coloring pads, word searches, and playing cards from the store and planned on taking them to the children’s wing of one of the nearby hospitals. Living so close to John’s Hopkins, we were taking a chance with this since we didn’t know if they even had a children’s wing or, if they did, if they’d even have children there. We figured that if there weren’t kids there then, there would definitely be some in the future and decided to go ahead and take stuff over. Much to our surprise, they did. In fact, all 14 rooms were completely full and their children’s emergency room was pretty busy as well. Good to know! Hospitals can be so depressing with nothing but a small television to watch. Even though it upsetting to know that so many children were sick, it makes me happy that I was able to provide them with fun activities to help take their mind off what they’re going through.

12-I pumped my mom’s gas so she could stay in the warm car. After all, she deserves a little something for giving me life...

13-Everywhere we went, my dad hurried to open the door, hold it open, or let someone go ahead of him. It’s a simple, everyday gesture that comes naturally to him, but he made a special effort to make sure he did it every time. He’s such a gentleman!

14-I visited some family friends to offer to walk their dog since one of them had shoulder surgery not too long ago and because I just love the pooch! I ended up just playing with the dog and chatting with the family for a while. It was good to catch up :)

15-On Sundays, the SPCA is at Petsmart with animals up for adoption. We stopped by and played with some kitties. I just fell in love with Bo :)

16-I bought my family’s two dogs little stuffed animal toys. I’m sure they’ve torn them up already, but at least they got to enjoy them for a day or two! At one point, Fenway, being the bully that he is, took both!

17-Being a 22-year-old female, it’s not hard for me to think something negative about myself; whether it be something about my appearance or anything I said or did. However, I can’t remember a single negative thing I thought about myself that day. I need a little kindness too! It must’ve been a God thing, but I love it :)

18-I “filled a box” online for Samaritan’s Purse! It was so much fun and really easy. All you have to do is pick a gender, age, and pick from toys that they have to choose from. You can leave a little note with your picture, as well!

19-I signed up with the Big Brothers Big Sisters program to be a big sister! It’s quite a process I’m going to have to go through, but it will all be worth it and very rewarding. I can’t wait to meet and mentor whoever becomes my little sis :) 

20-My dad said I must put in here that I “brightened his day!” I’m so glad :)

21-This isn’t something I did, but what my parents did for me. The fact that they spent an entire day driving me around committing these acts speaks wonders to me. I’m so fortunate to have them as my biggest supporters. I’m so thankful for them and everything they do and have done for me my entire life. They’re the best role models in all aspects of life that a child can have. They’re the reason I am who I am today. I’m so proud to be their daughter and I strive to be more like them every day.

22-The thing I’m most excited about is that I inspired many others to do the same. Some are even going to do the same thing on their next birthday!

Thank you to all that shared your acts of kindness with me one way or another. It was really amazing and emotional at times to hear the things you did for people.

A Celebration for All

In the past twenty-two years, I believe I’ve completed the most wonderful milestone birthdays. The day I became a teenager, the day I turned the “sweet” age of sixteen, my eighteenth on which day I was able to vote in the presidential election, and of course my twenty-first last year. Today, I hit the boring….twenty-two. I feel like the next milestone birthday I will have is in 18 years when I begin my journey over and down the hill…and that doesn’t sound like too much fun. My dad challenges that opinion saying, “Thirty’s next and that’s the new twenty!” Okay, Dad. I still think 21 could have been my last hoorah milestone!

With that being said, I wanted to find a way to make THIS birthday the BEST BIRTHDAY YET! I figured the best way to do that was to have everyone share in the celebration. I will be spending my day committing 22 acts of kindness. I’ve made a tentative list of things I’d like to do, but am praying for opportunities to present themselves. 

Instead of making this day about me, I want to make it about everyone. I’d like you to share in this celebration with me and inspire others to join in. It can be something as simple as giving a compliment or carrying someone’s groceries to their car. Being a chilly day, pumping someone’s gas would be a sweet gesture. 

My hope is to touch multiple lives and make this not only the best birthday yet for me, but a more beautiful day for many others. There’s a quote by Ghandi we probably all think we’ve heard one too many times: “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” Well, on this day, not only will I be helping people directly, but hopefully encouraging those people to do the same for someone else. My hope is to form a chain reaction making so many others’ day happier and brighter.

I would love to know what kind act you did for someone or someone else did for you. Feel free to comment on this post, text, email, Facebook or tweet me. It will make my day just knowing that you are out there helping me share God’s love with others.

I want to leave you with this, but no one can say it better than Ellen….

                                “Be kind to one another!”