I mentioned a couple of weeks ago my birthday wish was to complete one
Random Act of Kindness for every year of my life thus far,
as well as asking friends, readers,
Facebook fans and fellow Twitter-ers to each perform one
Random Act of Kindness and to let me know about it throughout the day.
I planned out 38 things ahead of time just in case,
but really was praying for opportunities to present themselves throughout the day.
It was absolutely freezing and windy but we were not to be deterred!
My husband, three daughters and my husband’s parents
joined me in the most favorite birthday of my life!
OUR 38 ACTS:
1. Returned grocery carts back inside the store from the parking lot for shoppers.
2. Loaded bags of groceries into cars for shoppers (received a hug from one adorable elderly man).
3. Handed bottled waters out the car window to
joggers/walkers/bicyclists we passed by
(felt like we were support for the Iron Man triathalon or something…
lots of laughs from people on this one).
4. Inconspicuously dropped coins on the playground
for children to find while they played
(my girls are really good at this apparently.
No, no one choked on a random found penny.
Yes, LOTS of squeals of delight floated through the air as we walked away!)
5. Fed parking meters.
6. Paid for the next two cars behind us on the toll bridge.
(Toll operator said, “You gotta be kidding me”).
7. Handed out Tootsie Pops to children
(asked parents permission first of course!).
8. Bought a gift card for groceries and turned around
and handed it to woman in line behind me.
I wasn’t prepared for the look on her face.
I immediately left before I started to cry.
9. Walked up to a family eating lunch at a local restaurant,
placed a gift card on their table and walked out.
10. Dropped off several hand written
thank you notes and doughnuts at the police station.
11. Gave a dozen hot doughnuts
to a very cold crew working on the power lines.
12. Took a large bag of clothes
to the local homeless shelter.
13. Left 3 gift cards with notes
hidden amongst books at Barnes & Noble.
14. Paid for the woman’s coffee behind us
in line at Starbucks.
15. Chased down and caught runaway Happy Birthday balloon
and returned it to the owner’s unlocked car
(then secretly watched as he returned and was completely baffled
at the balloon sitting in his front seat!)
16. Tucked happy notes in car doors in parking lot
wishing people a good day full of God’s blessings.
17. Handed out mylar balloons
to children shopping with their parents.
18. Took art supplies to the Family Waiting Room
of labor & delivery floor of the hospital
for new big brothers and sisters to be.
19. Dropped off stuffed animals
on the children’s floor of the hospital.
20. Delivered balloons to hospital patients.
21. Handed out water bottles
to very appreciative nurses (who knew they were so thirsty?).
22. Taped change to vending machines
(I actually saw passersby stop and take pictures
of the machines without taking the money).
23. Pumped woman’s gasoline
so she didn’t have to get out of her car in the cold.
(We also added a bottle of some sort of additive since she asked.
I should find out what that stuff was. I never add stuff to my gas tank.)
24. Left quarters at a laundromat.
25. Delivered handwritten Valentine cards
to the local assisted living facility.
26. Phone card to young woman in need.
(I asked the owner of a store I frequent if he knew of any customers
who might need it and he got a big smile on his face.
He looked at the girl working there and told me
she had just confided in him yesterday that she couldn’t afford
her minutes on her cell phone to call her family back home.
It was a suuuper cool moment.)
27. Handed out hot chocolate at ice skating rink.
28. Left free Krispy Kreme doughnut coupons
on coffee table at church.
29. Gave coffee to a toll booth worker on our way home.
(He seemed the least affected or appreciative of the day.
I feel like he might have needed it the most of everyone.)
30. Walked into McDonald’s and asked the cashier
to use my free coupon on next person in drive through line.
31. Wrote a letter to old friend and mailed it
(yeah, the total old fashioned way).
32. Took plates of cookies to 2 neighbors I don’t really know
and spent some time talking with them
(no, I did not bake them myself but no one seemed to care).
33. Read a story to children in Barnes & Noble
(I think people thought I worked there!
The kids liked it and the parents loved it!).
BONUS: My 8 year old daughter found a little guy
and read him a book too.
34. Took pictures of two tourists
in front of Hard Rock Cafe and a family in the park.
35. Brought in the neighbor’s garbage can for them.
36. Gathered a newspaper that a woman
who’s hands were full dropped at the grocery store.
37. Left a small treat with a note of thanks for the mailman.
38. Read an entire Junie B. Jones book
(all 9 chapters) to my children before bed,
instead of the usual two chapters. (Happy girls indeed!)
WOW! Doesn't that want to make you go out and do the same thing?
That was so awesome!
1 comment:
This was VERY inspiring! Great job and I am going to have to this next year for my birthday, love it!
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