Acts of Kindness Family Scavenger Hunt

I recently spoke to a precious mom's group at my church about being 

intentional in doing acts of kindness.  

I LOVE speaking to folks about easy, practical, simple, 

inexpensive ways to love others and it was a sweet time sharing 

how committing to doing RAOK had been a blessing in my life 

& what the Bible has to say about blessing others.  

A few of my favorite verses about kindness are: 

The one who blesses others is abundantly blessed;
those who help others are helped.
Proverbs 11:25

And let us consider how we may spur one another
on toward love and good deeds.
Hebrews 10:24

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.
Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to
your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
Philippians 2: 3-4

I wanted to leave them with a little something to encourage them 

to do RAOK's with their children so I created an 

Acts of Kindness Family Scavenger Hunt.

The idea is simple- gather another family or two and set aside a few hours. 

Each family get a copy of the scavenger hunt list and a few hours to 

complete as many tasks as possible. 

The rules are simple: 

1. Be genuine in each one of the service tasks. Remember, this is a race, BUT the goal is to actually make someone’s day, not just be the first family to finish.

2. Put as much effort into each task as possible.

3. Be safe! Stick together and be smart about your service.

4. Take pictures along the way.

5. You have ______Hours to finish.

6. Have fun and enjoy serving those around you!

I even included little notes to print out and leave with your acts of kindness.

You can print out a copy HERE. 

{Last year when I spoke to this group I created 

some acts of kindness activities for them to use with their children for

 both November and December. 

I shared the November idea HERE and the December idea HERE.} 

 

Acts of Kindness Lunchbox Notes

Back in August I created a Lunchbox Note set and added it to my ETSY store.

It includes 48 little notes to put in a 

lunchbox, locker, or backpack to encourage your child.

{If you are interested, you can purchase the set HERE. }

This weekend as I prepared for a MOPS talk I'm giving in a few weeks, 

I thought.....Wouldn't it be fun to have some acts of kindness lunchbox notes? 

Each could give a suggestion of something kind for your child to do that day. 

So after jotting down a list of ideas, I created some! 

Being kind is something everyone wants to do but 

sometimes we all need a little help thinking of WHAT to do! 

This listing is for a set of 18 acts of kindness notes for your child.

This gives you 18 positive and motivational notes to print and give to your child-

each with an idea of something kind they can do for someone that day.

If you'd like to purchase a set, you can find them HERE. 

Want to be a RAOK Ninja?

Back in 2013 when I started going to MD Anderson 

I created some little notes to post in bathrooms. 

I originally created them before my surgery because 

I prepared a little list of RAOK for Madison 

and her sweet friends who spent my surgery day with her to do. 

I loved thinking of them performing acts of kindness at MD Anderson

instead of just sitting and worrying about me.

   

      

Ever since then I've kept some of the signs in my purse along with some washi tape

 and I put them up each time I visit MDA for follow up visits

 and again this year when diagnosed with Melanoma and becoming a patient once again. 

I always visit every bathroom I pass on the way to my appointments

and honestly I feel like a little RAOK ninja! 

Delivery Driver Treats

Our Amazon delivery drivers are crazy hardworking & so appreciated-

especially this time of year. 

We had 4 deliveries (one before 8am!) Saturday alone! 

So after the third I decided I needed to leave them some little thank you treats! 

I made a little sign and grabbed some Gatorade and snacks and set them on the porch. 

I was super excited to see some missing after the 4th delivery driver left!
My snacks weren't super fabulous since I just used what I had on hand
but when I went to the store today I got some good stuff and lots
more Gatorade- since it seems like everyone has taken that. 

If you'd like to print out your own copy of the note you can find one HERE. 

I printed it out and taped it to a paper sack and my basket came from the Target $ Spot. 

Let's bless those hard working delivery drivers! 

Christmas Ring and Run

Several years ago I wrote about something super fun we did 

one year for Christmas- Ring and Run!

Ring and Run is based very loosely on the song The 12 Days of Christmas

and is kind of a Christmas random acts of Kindness!

It was so much fun I'm thinking of doing it again this year! 

Here's how it works:

You choose a family to surprise and every day for the 12 days leading up to Christmas 

you leave a little treat on their doorstep along with part of a poem, 

ring their doorbell, and run away!

The year we did it we chose a sweet family with 3 little girls
 and I cannot tell you how much fun we had buying and delivering little treats for them! 

Although this tradition is supposed to be totally anonymous, 

we altered that rule just a bit and let the parents know what we were up to. 

{Sneaking around in someone's front yard might tend to cause the police to get called
 and so we wanted them to know that we were not prowlers or burglars &
filled them in on what we were doing.}

It was so much fun sneaking up to their front door, leaving a treat, and speeding away!

If you just want a copy of the poem, you can find it HERE.

{Only the first page is listed below but the link is all of the poem!}

I made some fun tags that you can use to print out

to leave with y our gifts- and even included the gift for the night

at the top of each tag.  

You can print out your own tags HERE. 

{Don't try to just save the little images above, they'll be too little and blurry!}

Who can you bless with Christmas Ring and Run?  

Baby Jesus Kindness Christmas Tradition

I am a girl who so LOVES traditions!  

And in our family we have many- especially at Christmas time. 

One of my absolute favorite traditions that we did for many 
years while Madison was growing up involved our nativity scene. 

As we decorated for Christmas I put out the entire nativity scene-

 except for baby Jesus. 

We left His manger empty- until Christmas morning. 

Until that time we had WORK to create a soft bed for him. 

How did we make a soft bed for him? 

Each day we tried to do as many kind deeds for others- 

above and beyond the normal. 

For each of those kind deeds we did, 

we got to place one piece of straw in the manger for baby Jesus.  
It was such a great reminder to all of us (Tony & I included)
to stop and truly think of others during the busy holiday season. 

Each night at dinner we would share our kind acts and get straw 
to add to the manger for baby Jesus. Our goal was to have a super soft, cozy bed
 for him by Christmas morning- built by our kindness to others. 

December Random Acts of Kindness Calendar

A few weeks ago I spoke to a super sweet group of

young mamas at my church about RAOK (random acts of kindness). 

It was a sweet time sharing how committing to doing RAOK had 

been a blessing in my life and what the Bible has to say about blessing others. 

 One of my favorite verses is Proverbs 11:25 which says: 

The one who blesses others is abundantly blessed; those who help others are helped.

I wanted to leave them with a little something to encourage them to do RAOK's 

with their children so I created something for both November and December. 

I shared the November idea HERE 

and thought I'd share the December idea today!

It's a simple calendar with an easy idea for blessing others listed for each day. 

In this crazy hectic season it's nice

to have a simple idea at hand of how to bless someone else!

Just print it out HERE, add it to your bulletin board or fridge 

and get your kids involved in blessing others this December!

November RAOK Paper Chain

I spoke to a super sweet group of young mamas at my church yesterday

 about RAOK (random acts of kindness). 

It was a sweet time sharing how committing to doing RAOK had 

been a blessing in my life & what the Bible has to say about blessing others.  

The one who blesses others is abundantly blessed;

those who help others are helped. 

Proverbs 11:25

I wanted to leave them with a little something to encourage them to do RAOK's 

with their children so I created a fun little fall paper chain full of ideas. 

Most are no cost but a few ideas have a cost associated with them. 

They can cut the strips apart and make a chain 

and each day have one of their children pull off a link for the family to complete. 

Wouldn't this be fun to add to your thankful tree in November? 

You can print out your own copy HERE. 

It is Well Boxes

It is Well Boxes {named after the beautiful song It is Well } 

is an idea that God put on my heart several months ago. 

And yet I ignored it. 

Okay maybe not ignored. 

I thought about it but did nothing with it. 

It seems like there are so many people battling serious illnesses 

and so many people who have suffered the loss of a loved one 

and my heart just breaks for them.

 I just kept thinking....what can we do to bring them a little hope and joy? 

I kept thinking...someday, when I have more time I'll come up with a plan. 

{Like that is ever going to happen?}

But God kept bringing the idea to mind and so recently, 

with the input of some of my sweet friends, the idea is becoming a reality! 

What is an It is Well box? 

Surprise gift boxes put together with lots of love and prayer and mailed anonymously to folks battling a serious illness or who have suffered the loss of an immediate family and need a reminder of God's love and comfort. They will be full of comforting items and point to the hope we have in Jesus. Think of it as a secret surprise from God to brighten the day of someone who needs it so! 

Many of the things in the boxes- printables, scripture cards, bookmarks- I will make or have friends create but a few will cost money. At this time we would like to purchase socks from the fabulous Notes to Self Socks company, mailing envelopes, 

and postage to mail the packages. 

{I contacted the Notes to Self Socks company and they are willing 

to give me 25% off if I place an order of 50 or more because they loved the idea! They ROCK!}

How can you help? 

1. PRAY: Please pray that God would direct us in every detail 

of these boxes including what should go in them and to whom we need to send the boxes. 

2. Financial Support: Would you consider helping us financially to 

bless some sweet, hurting people? Every donation, small or large, 

will help and will go directly towards the It is Well boxes- 

once the small Go Fund Me percentage is taken! 

 The more we get donated, the more we will be able to add to the boxes 

and the more boxes we will be able to send!

You can donate HERE. 

3. Physical Help: If you live in the BCS area and want to help 

by putting together the packages, comment below 

and I'll let you know when we gather to put them all together. 

We would love to have you help us!

4. Item Donation: If you have something you'd like to contribute to the It is Well boxes, please let me know! 

God is so good and faithful. 

I posted about this last night on Facebook 

and we are already almost halfway to our first goal! 

Christmas Ring and Run

Several years ago I wrote about something super fun we did 

one year for Christmas- Ring and Run!

Ring and Run is based very loosely on the song The 12 Days of Christmas

and is kind of a Christmas random acts of Kindness!

It was so much fun I'm thinking of doing it again this year! 

Here's how it works:

You choose a family to surprise and every day for the 12 days leading up to Christmas 

you leave a little treat on their doorstep along with part of a poem, 

ring their doorbell, and run away!

The year we did it we chose a sweet family with 3 little girls and I cannot tell you how much fun we had buying and delivering little treats for them! 

Although this tradition is supposed to be totally anonymous, 

we altered that rule just a bit and let the parents know what we were up to. 

{Sneaking around in someone's front yard might tend to cause the police to get called and so we wanted them to know that we were not prowlers or burglars & filled them in on what we were doing.}

It was so much fun sneaking up to their front door, leaving a treat, and speeding away!

If you just want a copy of the poem, you can find it HERE.

{Only the first page is listed below but the link is all of the poem!}

I made some fun tags that you can use to print out

to leave with y our gifts- and even included the gift for the night

at the top of each tag.  

You can print out your own tags HERE. 

{Don't try to just save the little images above, they'll be too little and blurry!}

Who can you bless with Christmas Ring and Run?  

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