I am certain at this point many know the story of the man who was walking along the beaches picking up starfish and throwing them back in the water. When another man approached him and asked what he was doing he said he was throwing them back to safety. The man remarked that there were so many starfish surely he wasn't making that big of a difference. As the man threw another starfish back in the water he looked at the man and said "I made a difference for that one".
While looking at our Christmas season this year and I decided instead of having an Advent Calendar we would have an Advent-ure in Kindness. Each day counting down to Christmas we are doing a random act of kindness. Little did I know when we started planning this the difference it would make in our holiday season.
The beginning of this project came in October when a friend approached me about a car. She told me she had a friend who was moving out of the country and wanted to give her car to someone who could use it. She had thought of a mutual friend of ours and we set to work on getting the car for him. We wrote letters to the gifter about him and discussed it all at length. When we found out he would get the car we were thrilled! The night we surprised him with the keys was one of the most amazing nights of my life. Here was a man in his 40's who has never owned a car and works at a job that would probably never afford him that luxury and we were able to help him not have to walk to work in the cold and snow.
Here is a breakdown of the 24 RAOK we are doing for our Advent-ure:
December 1 - Make and deliver a Christmas card to someone at church
December 2 - Compliment a friend at school
December 3 - Write a letter to Grandma about what she means to you
December 4 - Thank a youth leader at church
December 5 - Deliver donuts or cupcakes to the firestation
December 6 - Hide small toys around the playground to be found and played with
December 7 - Open the door for everyone you meet today
December 8 - Write the mail man a thank you note for delivering our mail each day
December 9 - Thank a waiter or waitress at a restaurant for their great service
December 10 - Thank a teacher for everything you have learned from them
December 11 - Purchase the items needed to make Chemo Kits for the cancer center
December 12 - Cheer Cards for kids who are sick or in the hospital this season
December 13 - Shop for the Food Bank
December 14 - Deliver food to the Food Bank and see if they need any help
December 15 - Coin Ninja's Leave bags of change taped to vending machines
December 16 - Compliment a stranger
December 17 - Open the door for all we meet
December 18 - Shop for homeless care kits and assemble
December 19 - Deliver cookies to the neighbors
December 20 - Leave $1 bills in the toy area at the Dollar Store
December 21 - Assemble the Chemo Kits for Tammy Walker
December 22 - Make cards for church members who can't get out to church on Sunday's
December 23 - Deliver Chemo Kits to Tammy Walker
December 24 - Give a candy cane to everyone we see today
After the holiday season is over we are going to continue to do our Random Acts of Kindness and I am sure we will find more along the way. I have started a group on Facebook to post Random Acts of Kindness in hopes of getting even more ideas. This is the link to that group if you wish to join.
My challenge to you is to do the little things to make people happy. It doesn't have to cost anything and can make a big difference in their day.
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