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Make the World a Better Place

February 24, 2020

20 Quick and Easy Random Acts of Kindness to Brighten Someone’s Day

Did you know there’s actually a day set aside for Random Acts of Kindness? How cool is that? It was officially on February 17 (in 2020, that is), but I say any ol’ day will do. Unnecessary kindness is the BEST, isn’t it?

Sometimes it’s the littlest things that make the biggest difference. God uses His people every day to love on and encourage our fellow humans, so let’s explore some easy, inexpensive ways to unexpectedly brighten someone else’s day! Let’s make the world a better place one random act of kindness at a time.

Pay for the person’s order behind you in the drive-thru. I love doing this and I love it when someone does this for me!
Take your kids’ teachers a drink from Sonic. Ask them what their favorites are and surprise them from time to time.
Take dinner to your neighbor. Just bring him or her a serving of what you’re having! Bonus points for taking dessert, too.
Call your grandma. She’d love to hear from you.
Send a card just because. (To an old friend, a former teacher, or someone who made a difference in your life)
Leave an encouraging note for your boss or coworker. How unexpected and kind!
When out to eat with a group, everyone tip a little (or a lot) extra, adding up to a huge deal for the waiter. I saw this idea on Facebook. How cool is that?!
Pray for someone you don’t know. (A stressed-out mom, a sad-looking person you see, the person in the ambulance driving by)
Anonymously pay for an elderly couple’s meal (or someone eating alone) at a restaurant.
Tell someone they’re doing a great job (a waiter, cashier, grocery stocker, teacher, hostess). Let’s get real: they probably never ever hear those words from anyone.
On trash day, take your neighbor’s trash can back up to their house for them.
Pick up trash from a neighbor’s yard, a common area, or a neighborhood park.
Visit a nursing home or rehabilitation center. If you plan ahead, call and let them know you’ll host a game of bingo and bring prizes for the residents! (My son’s student council does this, and it’s simply fantastic.)
Give a $5 or $10 gift card for lunch to the sanitation crew who picks up your garbage each week to let them know you appreciate them.
Leave out snacks and drinks for delivery people who come to your door.
Take a rose (or a bouquet of flowers) to a single mom or widow, just so she knows you’re thinking of her.
Keep stickers in your purse with encouraging words like, “Way to Go!/You’re Awesome!/Keep it Up!” to hand out randomly to cashiers, waiters, drive-thru workers, baristas, stressed-out mamas in Target, their kids…you get the idea.
Offer to bring your hairstylist a coffee, drink, or lunch when on your way to your next hair appointment.
Let someone go in front of you in the check-out line at the grocery store. (You know…if your basket is overflowing and they only have six items.)
Offer to take a single (or busy) mom’s kid to practice, to a movie, or for a playdate at your house. You never know how helpful and life-saving that could be for her.

Here’s the gist: Be unnecessarily kind. If you notice something good, SAY IT! If you know of someone who needs help, DO IT! If you see a need you can meet, GO FOR IT! Those little things really do make a big difference. Research shows the quickest way to get out of our own funk is to serve other people. It really IS better to give than to receive. Happy RAOKing!

I’m Unraveled

February 4, 2020

“Find me faithful,” I whisper to the Lord as I pull back the covers and follow the sound of my phone alarm plugged in across the room. That’s become my mantra lately: Find me faithful. Through the busy, through the twists and turns, through the laughter, through the tears, through working and cooking and cleaning and mothering and marriage.

A day that starts at 5 am begs me to quit long before it’s actually time to wrap things up. Fast forward to 8 pm. After innumerable timeouts, messes, and homework battles, weariness is real and exhaustion is almost as relentless as my three-year-old who never ceases to get out of bed 12 times before finally falling asleep. Was I patient enough today? I should have been nicer. Are we forgetting anything for school tomorrow? Gah, whatever you do, don’t forget about the tooth fairy again.

Another night goes by in which I hopelessly glance at the menacing laundry pile in the corner. It taunts me more and more with every new ketchup-stained shirt and stinky sock. Surely I’ll get to it tomorrow.

The painful bumps on my chin demand a dermatologist visit in which she asks, “Are you especially stressed?” I don’t even know how to answer that. Is it possible that that’s just my way of life?

A cycle of tired, busy, self-doubting days creates a week and unwaveringly promises to bring another one full of the same. Tomorrow I might have it together, but today, I’m unraveled.

Why is this so hard? This lovely life I’ve created with intention…the details of which I adore, cherish, and hold dear. The season I find myself in is demanding, precious, and oh-so-fleeting. I love it so much and it’s just so hard.

I endure. I keep on keeping on. I must give and give and give because it’s now or never. Rather than the laundry, I’ll sit on the side of my son’s bed and talk about his day. Rather than the sweeping, I’ll read bedtime stories, scratch backs, and sing songs. Rather than work I’ll lay with my husband on the couch and watch a tiny bit of TV with his foot in my hand because many days those are the only moments I look forward to.

I’ll browse Instagram later and wonder how she does it better. I’ll wish for her life even though I know I wouldn’t trade mine for the world. I’ll go to bed exhausted and wake up tired with those same three words, “Find me faithful.” Through the busy, through the twists and turns, through the laughter, through the tears, through working and cooking and cleaning and mothering and marriage.

A Speck on a Rug

January 27, 2020

When we can’t wrap our brains around life and death, a Godly perspective can help.

Perspective. There’s nothing like death to center the soul and provide a healthy dose of perspective on life.

We were sitting at Chili’s when my phone illuminated with the notification that Kobe Bryant had been killed in a helicopter accident (we later learned his daughter tragically went with him). There were nine total deaths in the accident. Moms, daughters, husbands, and sons.

This was the first time a celebrity my boys look up to had died. The looks on their faces were so confused. The questions quickly flowed from their minds to their mouths. “Why? Why would this happen? Why would God allow it? What’s the purpose of that?”

The reality is that this happens every day. People lose husbands, wives, parents, siblings, and children on a daily basis. This is a harsh reality of the broken world we live in. Exactly like my kids, I’ve often been in that place of wondering why. My heart has shattered for loved ones lost and tragedies that have hit way too close to home. In those tender moments when I’ve turned my wondering eyes to God full of fear and questions, He has comforted me and gifted me with a small glimpse of His holy perspective on death and life, and I try desperately to impart that to my children.

A Speck on a Rug

“Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” James 4:14

Our lives are merely a vapor in the wind. Our perspectives are limited; our view totally restricted. I often catch sight of the tiniest speck on a rug and liken that to our entire existence on earth. (I mean, honestly, there are usually lots of specks and I pick a kid to vacuum. But, that’s beside the point.) The rug in its entirety is eternity, the big picture. We are only able to see the speck. That’s all we know. The speck is our whole 100 years or less. Our perspective starts and ends there. God, on the other hand, sees the whole rug. He knows far more than we know; sees far more than we see.

A Moment in Time

To consider our lives from the perspective of time, I think of our lives as an hour-long party on any given day. We may just stop by for 15 minutes or so, or we may stay the whole time. We may have fun, we may think the party totally stinks, but it’s just an hour or less, so we have much more to look forward to. We don’t center our lives around the party; it’s just a small part of the day. Our time here on earth is just a tiny bit of time compared to the eternity that lies ahead. May we be ever-mindful of the impermanence of our human bodies, and focus rather on things that last.

An Eternal Perspective

To get a grasp of eternal perspective, the book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible is a great one to study. King Soloman literally had it all. He was blessed with everything God has to offer us on this earth, and over his lifetime he came to realize that everything that this world has to offer is meaningless. He like, really drives that point home in this book. I mean really.

Do you know how often I forget this God-granted perspective on life? Do you know how often I get totally consumed in the things of this world? I catch myself chasing after the wind far more than I’d like to admit. The truth is, this earthly life is all we really know so far. But, in faith, we can grasp hold of an eternal perspective, allowing God to help us focus on things that are eternal rather than just that one speck on the rug.

What Matters?

The Bible tells us we have two main goals: Love GOD and love others. How much of what we do is centered around those two things? If your busy, self-centered life looks like mine, it may look a lot like loving work, money, things, activities, food, sleep, leisure…ugh. My list is a lot longer than loving God and loving people. When I’m yet again awakened to this perspective, I center my soul and ask God to bring into my focus His eternal purpose for my life.

Let’s vow again to love our people well. Let’s let the little things go. Let’s say yes to our kids more often. Let’s slow down. Let’s linger with our spouse a little longer. Let’s make time for lunch with friends. Let’s not focus so much on things that pass away, but focus more on loving God and loving people however we can in each moment.