A Not so Random Act of Kindness….

Hello friends and blog readers!

I have not been able to get on line and blog daily to help REMIND everyone about our Medical Missions project!

We left early Saturday morning with 3 Silky Bantam Chickens, A Boston Terrier Named Sam, and my 3 kiddos headed down to Florida.

Why did we come down here?

My mother in law fell and broke her pelvis. She is 83 years old and is in need of someone to be home with her morning and night for a good long while.

Two of my sister in laws and moms friends have been taking care of her since the fall.

One Sister had to leave to NH to tie up loose ends as she is moving down to Florida.

Mom asked if the kids and I could come down to help.

We are blessed. We homeschool, I currently do not work outside the home (I do have a homebusiness) so we loaded up the van with animals, kids and school for a month!

I am thrilled to do a not so random act of kindness for my mother in law. I have been married to her son for close to 19 years. I can only remember one time where we had a minor run in.  She raised a pretty amazing (and sometimes annoying) 😛 son and she has been a great Godly example of how a mother/grandmother should be.

I have been thinking and praying on how to write and say what the Lord has put on my heart here.

This is not about me.

Coming down here and loving on my MIL is what God would have me to do. There was never any question that I could come.

We are told in the bible to Honor our Mother and our Father (Ephesians 6:2) , we are told to Honor the widows(1 Tim 5:3) . we are told to love one another as Jesus has loved us (John 13:34)

I have a desire to show my kids how to let God’s love shine through them.

I am thankful God put doing these Random Acts of Kindness on my heart. My kids are always excited to see what “we” will do today. I have loved on my mother, strangers, friends and now not only am I loving on my MIL but through loving her It also shows my husband I love him.

I pray my kids are learning to love the elderly ( one day we may all live to be one!)

We as a culture have begun to shy away from taking care of our elderly family. There are SO many nursing homes and assisted living facilities today.

It hurts my heart.

We are no longer loving past what we believe to be useful.

My hope was to take my kids to a nursing home when we began this RAK adventure. The Lord saw fit to instead let us help take care of my mother in law.

The kids have, with our homeschool group, sang and played music for a local nursing home in Missouri.  I feel as if the Lord blessed us with the change in my plans. 🙂

We get to spend some good one on one time with Nanny.  We get to refresh ourselves while visiting Nanny’s church. We get to visit with friends and family we have not seen in almost a year.

This not so Random Act of Kindness, as seems all of the ones done so far…is so much more a blessing to me.

What can you do to show God’s love today or tomorrow?  It does not have to be anything big. Pick up the phone, write a note, give a compliment, pray for a friend and let them know about it!

I am skipping some “days” in this RAK writing but know today as I walked I prayed for friends, I picked up trash, and now as I sign off I get to go spend some time with a great friend.

I have 6 days left of this RAK business to raise money to go towards supplies for:

http://truthfortodaymedicalmissions.org/

If you decide to mail money to them directly please let them know you heard about them here!

 

 

 

St. Jude for RAK 30

Luke 6:38 – Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.

Day 30 already.

When I checked my Facebook this morning a good friend from high school posted a link for his son. His son Jeremy is raising money for St. Jude.

i knew this would be my RAK for today.

I asked his dad what he was doing this specific fundraiser for and this was his answer

“It’s a fundraiser that his school does every year and he has been doing it for past two years because his older cousin had cancer as a child and beat it. If it wasn’t for research like St. Jude does who knows what his outcome would have been.😊”

How awesome is this kid?? I am super proud when kids step up for something honey believe in!

If medical missions is not your thing and you would rather donate to another great cause…please consider donating for Jeremy!

Here is his link!

https://waystohelp.stjude.org/sjVPortal/public/displayUserPage.do?programId=551&eventId=338717&sectionStyle=subMenuTwo&userId=965

 

 

if you want more information on St. Jude click here

:

http://www.stjude.org/stjude/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=f87d4c2a71fca210VgnVCM1000001e0215acRCRD&sc_cid=kwp1&sc_kw=st%20jude’s%20research%20hospital&sc_mt=e&sc_adid=19549755082&gclid=CK-D89OlsbYCFQvNnAodvhMAEQ

Remember friends I have 10 RAK   Days left!

Thanks for all your support! I am almost  half way to reaching the $480 goal for medical supplies!

Chocolate RAK 29

While I was grocery shopping at our local military commissary I bought some On sale Easter candy for the kiddos. 

I had an idea to buy an extra special box of chocolates..Ghirardelli chocolate.
I figured someone would NEED a yummy box of chocolates at some point.
Wouldn’t you love someone to give you a box for no reason? I would.
🙂
At our grocery store we have baggers. People who,bag your groceries and walk them to your car.
We had a nice and friendly lady take our bags out for us. ( side bar memory: I am from The Bronx originally. We had baggers but they were super cool. They delivered the groceries to your house! I miss that!)
I felt as if that chocolate I just bought should go to her. I did not have any special RAK cards with me (we had cleaned out the car and they were brought in!).

No photo of the chocolate but the smile on her face was enough. A tip AND chocolate. Well who would not feel blessed?

Psalm 103:1 Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

RAK 28

Lighting it up blue for autism!

see previous post for more info!

https://rnforchrist.wordpress.com/2013/04/02/lighting-it-up-blue/

 

 

Lighting it up BLUE!

Luke 18:16 – But Jesus called them [unto him], and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.

Today is the kick off for Autism awareness month.

What better way to show my love for my nephew than to light up my house and get some info out there about Autism?

Too many kids are affected and not enough is really known about the cause. 

These kids are super special, smart, amazing and need love and patience just like every other child in the world.

check out this data: Autism is a complex neurobiological disorder that inhibits a person’s ability to communicate and develop social relationships, and is often accompanied by behavioral challenges. Autism spectrum disorders are diagnosed in one in 88 children; one in 54 boys in the United States, affecting four times as many boys as girls. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have called autism a national public health crisis whose cause and cure remain unknown. 

ONE IN FIFTY FOUR BOYS IN USA!! 

What?!?!

This is madness folks!  

Answers are needed but most importantly we need to realize that when we see a parent struggling with a child whether you are at a park, out to dinner, shopping etc…

DO NOT JUDGE.  

The child may have Autism and is having a hard time adjusting to whatever situation they are in or something that may have set them off. Noise, smell, touch or whatever the trigger is.

Try to be an encouragement. Be sympathetic. Show some compassion. Show God’s love through you.

Have you ever spent time with a special child? If not, you are missing out. 

Here are some links to help educate you: I pray you take the time to arm yourself with knowledge even if this does not directly affect you YET!! Remember 1 in 54 friends. 

http://www.lightitupblue.org/Markslist/charityAffiliate/displayPage.do?siteIdCode=LSE0Q1A0&pageId=9

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/a-parents-guide-to-autism-spectrum-disorder/what-is-autism-spectrum-disorder-asd.shtml

Treats for trash. RAK 27

Psalms 51:7 – Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

We made some goodies as a thank you for our trash man today!

Dipped strawberries and chocolate chip muffins!

Where would we be without trash pick up?

i am ever so grateful for it and I hope you are too.

Thankful for being willing to do this job to help keep our little part of our home clean Mr. trash man!

 

 

****UPDATE******
We missed our sanitation worker by 10 minutes! 😦
God’s hand is always in things though. We took the treats with us on a homeschool outing for just incase.
One of the moms had a really bad morning. Car battery had died ( thankfully hubby was home to help restart it), she had a doctors appt and found out her blood pressure is too high and it was just one of those days that just kept getting better from there…
Here my sweet friend..have some chocolate and strawberries! 🙂
I pray it was a little bit of sunshine in a cloudy kind of day!

Compliments RAK 26

Compliments cost nothing and bring just as much joy as something that cost a ton of money.

Today my mental mission was to make honest compliments (they mean nothing if you do not mean them..people can tell when you are fake about it you know!).

I told parents of some of my Children church kids that they have some pretty amazing kids that I love. I told some of my Children’s church kids how much I love them and think how great they are.

Complimented many women today at church about their beautiful dresses.

My oldest daughter (not realzing what my RAK was) complimented a lady on her earings today at Walmart.

I complimented my husband on his awesomeness.  Women you need to make a point to do this. Men  make sure to make a point to compliment your wife! What a difference their day can brighten with just a few kind and loving words!

My most favorite person to compliment are pregnant women. They do not feel beautiful..but they are so gorgeous!! They have life growing in them. It is just amazing and a miracle.

I pray you all had a Blessed Easter Sunday!

 1 Peter 1:3 KJV: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

 

 

Loving on the Animal Shelter

So my RAK 25…is not my RAK.

It is my daughters!

Yesterday we celebrated her 14th birthday a month early. We planned a party in less than 4 days.

We discussed it and decided together that we would tell families to please not give gifts but instead to donate pet food so that she could donate it to our local shelter where we volunteer.

Loving Paws Adoption Center in Crocker as well as all the many local animal shelters in this area and I am sure YOUR area need volunteers, foster families and forever homes for the pets that are found or dropped off. (http://lovingpawsadoptioncenter.com/)

Please spay and neuter your pet.

We rescued a Boston Terrier and he has brought such joy and love into our home and hearts in the last year. He was our blessing when our Labrador, Scout, passed away last month.

Shelter dogs know what you saved them from and they show you daily!

 

Matthew 10:29-31

Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.

But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

 Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.

Just a little….

I have been thinking back on all my RAKs…and the most fun ones have been the ones that are so simple, fun and pretty cheap to do!

They are the ones that have touched my heart and possibly the ones that were RAKed.

Being kind does not need to cost money or too much of your time.

A simple thank you, a smile, being friendly to that grumpy cashier, writing a note to tell someone you love them.

It is so easy to be kind but why is it people are alwasy so surprised when you are?

Kind of sad huh?

If you read this today…be mindful of being kind the next few days and notice not only the difference in the person you were kind to AND the difference in your heart.

RAK 24 brought a smile and a thank you from the little girl helping to raise money for her schools art program as well as my kids that benefited from my  donation! 🙂

How many times do I walk by a bake sale and say no. For no other reason than I rarely carry cash on me.

Yesterday (Friday) I had a little bit of cash on me and each of my kids walked away with a smile and a cupcake. The little sweet girl raising money for her school had a huge smile and some extra money in her bin!

Go do something kind today.

Ephesians 4:32 – And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

It pays to drive through….

1 John 4:12 – No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.

Today was a spur of the moment RAK. A friend of mine mentioned this idea!

We went through the drive thru at Wendy’s today for lunch and was led buy pay for the linch for the car behind us!

the guy at the cash register did not know what to do! 

the lady was surprised and was smiling huge! 

We pulled over to quickly sort food since  I was running late, the lady drove by us and thanked us. 

This one was fun too. People’s surprised faces are so fun to watch. We need more love out there people!