With the holiday season in full swing, it is time for us to spread a little more love and kindness. One thing I love about this time of the year is the spirit of Christ that seems to permeate everything about this season. Everyone seems a little more patient, more quick to forgive, more loving, more joyful. It might be a coincident that Christmas follows a season of thanksgiving, but I think it's a perfect line up. We get to spend a whole month reflecting on all we have to be grateful for then comes a month of giving to others. When I was younger, I looked forward to Christmas in part because of the gifts I anticipated receiving, but as I get older, I realize I don't really "need" anything. It truly is more fun to give than receive at this stage in my life. Well our acts of kindness are a way for us to give to others. These acts range from large to small. Some take more preparation than others, but all are fun. We began this tradition after Jeff and I were married and it has evolved over the years. This year, Danny and Jonas have decided that they don't want to be limited to just 12 acts of kindness. They agreed that we should at least do 12 acts, but they are excited to participate in more as opportunities arise. Our first two "acts" were just those random opportunities. As mentioned before, our first act happened in Nashville even before Thanksgiving. We had the opportunity to donate at the Church's Giving Machines. I got choked up as I looked at all the things we could purchase for charity. There is so much need out there. I realize that we can't do it all, but we were grateful for the opportunity to do something.
Our second act was something we stumbled upon (sort of) too. Jonas came home from school on the Monday after Thanksgiving with a note about a Penny War the school was having. Basically, each grade level was to collect as many pennies as they could. This money is eventually to be donated to local charities to help families in need in the community. The grade levels would get one point for each penny and the grade level with the most points would win a pizza party. The kicker is that anyone could put a silver coin in another grade levels bucket and the total amount of silver coins would be subtracted from the total penny count. So to thwart other grade levels, the students were encouraged to load up their buckets with silver coins! Both Jonas and Danny emptied their piggy banks and by the end, Jonas had two bags of coins: one filled with pennies for his grade and one filled with all the other coins to "bomb" the other grade levels. Before Jonas knew that this was for charity, he was initially reluctant to donate his money, but as soon as both boys discovered that it was for charity, they were more than willing to donate. I would say we're off to a good start to our acts of kindness!
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