35 Random Acts of Kindness for my 35th Birthday - Part 2

Alrighty, ready for the next seven!?

8.  The kids and I headed to the Dollar Store to do some hiding.  Of course, they were so good at hiding that when we went back the next week all but one of their surprises were still there!!  So it was time to hide again (and make it a little easier to find this time).  They each hid 2 of the below notes in the kids section so that some kids would find it and be able to enjoy a special treat. This note was written by my sweet Abbi!

9.  While we were there, Sadie and I filled all the candy and toy machines with quarters and toonies and then turned them just so you couldn't see the money in it.  Would have been fun to be there when those were discovered!

10.  I enjoy baking and every holiday season I hand out baking to the neighbours but I always miss two neighbours on our street.  Our next door neighbours, whom I had never formally met before and I'm ashamed to say we've lived here for almost 8 years, and another neighbour a few doors down.  So I was prepared this year to hand out baking and make sure not to miss a house.  We headed down to our usual stops and then walked over to the 'new' house at the end.  We knew one man who lived there as he always lets the kids play with his big dog but the man who answered the door was someone entirely else!  I don't think I'd ever seen him before so we introduced ourselves and gave him the card and goodies and headed out to the next house.  When we arrived home from holidays, there was a card in our mailbox addressed 'To our good neighbours' from the family!  Just a little kindness can go a long way.

We also introduced ourselves to our next-door neighbours who we see from afar all the time but haven't really chatted with (or should I say 'I' haven't really chatted with) and they were very grateful for the gift as well.  It was so lovely to make the new connections in our community.

11, 12, and 13.  This year we gave cards to both the driver and runner of the people who pick up our garbage, recycling and compost.  They all do a stinky job but do it without complaint and work hard so we wanted to thank them.  I noticed that they often have their ear buds in as they run from can to can so I gave each person (a total of 6) a Christmas card with a  $10 iTunes card in it so they could purchase some new music to listen to.  The compost guys came first and were very enthusiastically grateful, then the Recyclers and then the Garbage guys who I had to just leave on the garbage can as we were heading out to work but I'm hopeful that they got it.

This was the FIRST time I had thanked our public servicemen and I did notice one thing about my neighbours - it definitely wasn't the first time for Grandma Rose!  Grandma Rose is the sweet lady that lives across from us and she is the resident grandmother to all neighbourhood children.  As I ran out to give my gift, she was ready with a package full of baking.  She is one of those people you just CANNOT out-give...and believe me, I have tried.  I would make her a jar of soup and she would return the jar full of chocolates and jelly beans. I would bring her dinner, she would bring me baking. I just had to come to grips with the fact that she could not be out given!!  She is such a wonderful example of a generous spirit; I am so blessed to have her living across from us.  All that to say, she is a thoughtful lady and, of course, she would remember to bless those men too!

14.  Make a Donation to the Food Bank - This one was generously done by Amy and Jakey on behalf of me.  Amy and her 4 year old son dropped of donations to the food bank and Jakey was 'pleased as punch' to be a part of my birthday by giving me this gift.  Thank you Amy and Jakey!!

35 Random Acts of Kindness for my 35th Birthday - Part 1

So I decided to do something big for my 35th Birthday.  I wanted to do something special that I wouldn't forget.  I want this year to be a great one...so I started searching the internet for birthday ideas and when I came across a myriad of people doing Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) for their birthdays, it sat just right with me.  I made a list and posted it on Facebook and with the help of my friends and family have accomplished my goal.  Through the month of December I hit almost half of them and then did about 14 on my birthday and finished the rest in early January.  Some people do all of them on their birthday but my day was pretty full just doing that amount so I'm glad I didn't make myself crazy and try to fit in everything in just one day!!  So you wanna know what I did?  Here it goes!

1.  December 2nd came along and so did a post about Dressember.  Dressember is all about your standing up for what is right for women - celebrating in our femininity and remembering those who do not have the freedom to celebrate.  With thousands of other women I wore a dress or skirt for 29 days of December.  The absolute longest I have ever gone without a pair of pants on!  I also made a donation to International Justice Mission on behalf of those who are still in slavery.

2.  We have sponsor children in Mexico at a children's center that our church works for.  2 of our sponsor kids have left the program and we have 3 remaining in the program.  Our family bought and shipped gifts to all 5 of the children.  To our amazement and delight, our sponsor Mom had already warned her kids that they would be getting no gifts that year as she couldn't afford to buy them anything but a team from Canada showed up to her doorstep with our gifts on Christmas Eve!!  What an amazing blessing to know that our gifts came at the perfect time and we were able to bless their family with a beautiful Christmas.

3. I have a missionary friend named Sarah Gilman who lives in Haiti. I visited her about 4 years ago and we are like kindred spirits.  She and I can go years without seeing one another and then when we do, we talk like old ladies, hardly coming up for air.  It is a wonderful friendship and this year she was blessed with tickets to go home to Canada for Christmas.  Her family lives on the other side of the country so instead of getting a visit in, I sent her a donation so she could purchase some much need personal supplies before heading back to Haiti.

4.  I came across a posting on Facebook that there was a new family in town that was in need.  I managed to contact the family and they said they really needed a dresser as they had two small children and no furniture.  The kids and I said out to the Thrift Store to find one that was good quality and no too much money.  By the third shop, I prayed that if God wanted us to bless this family with a dresser that he would have one here for $40 and that it would fit in the back of our vehicle.  Sure enough, that is exactly what happened.  Caleb and I delivered it the next day and she really did have NO furniture so it was a fantastic way to be a blessing.

5.  Bless a teacher - I know how so many teachers had struggled because of the strike last year and wanted to bless one of the kids teachers with a fun family gift so I bought a groupon to Castle Fun Park and sent it via email to one of the kids teachers from last year just to bless her for her diligence in teaching.

6. Drop change randomly at a children's playground! This was a fun one.  The girls and I headed out to our favourite playground and hid change all over the playground, on the ground, in the trees, etc.  We wanted to stay and watch it be found but knew that it might take awhile before someone came so we left happy to know some kids would be having an amazing day at the playground!  Thank you so much to Amy and Jakey and Katie for donating your change.

7.  School moms went out to High Street for a get-together before Christmas and we asked a random girl to take our picture.  After she took the picture below, she asked if we knew of a shelter nearby.  I started on my phone to try and find one that was available and I was shocked to find that all of them were full!!  Well, we couldn't leave her there in the cold so my friend Veronica and I figured we'd drive her to the nearest hotel and put her up.  She was on her way to Vancouver to be with her daughter who was getting some testing done at Children's Hospital.  Our hearts were tugged and I am so thankful we were at the right place at the right time.  Thank you so much to the Klassen family for paying for her hotel.