Along with the rest of the world, my heart is breaking for the people of Newtown, Connecticut after the unimaginable tragedy that struck in their town last Friday. I have two kids of my own, one of them a 1st grader. I can’t help but cry when I see those sweet, innocent Newtown kids faces on the news. Kids the same age as my own daughter. Kids whose lives were only starting. And then I think of those parents and brothers and sisters who need to go on living without their loved ones. I can’t begin to imagine the sorrow they are facing and wish there was something I could do make the days and weeks ahead easier for these families.
In fact there is a whole nation of people mourning the loss of these lives and wanting to do something to help. When I read Ann Curry’s idea of paying it forward by committing 26 random acts of kindness in memory of each of the victims from Sandy Hook Elementary I instantly feel in love with the idea. Not that these random acts will be bring healing to families who have suffered such great loss but it is rather a way for the rest of us to take senseless acts of violence and turn it into spreading goodwill towards others. This is also a great way to show children they can make a difference for good in the lives of others. Are you up for the challenge?
I’ll be sharing my acts of kindness with you and would love if you would join me in blessing others. These acts don’t need to be huge or expensive. Ever kind act, large or small is meaningful and has the power to bless the recipient in ways we can’t imagine.
I would love to hear about the ways you showed random kindness to others. Please let me know about your acts by leaving a blog post comment, post it on my Facebook wall, or tweet it to me. Feel free to share pictures also. Let’s share the ways we are doing these random acts and in the process honor those who tragically lost their lives last week.
The mom’s group I’m a part of is buying Christmas gifts for all the ladies at a local women’s shelter. So to start out my #26acts of Kindness I contributed a gift card and some beauty items. The picture at the top of the post shows just some the gifts collected and ready to hand out and bring a blessing to others on Christmas morning.
One act down and twenty five to go! I’m excited about the kindness I get a chance to help spread around in the coming weeks. I even asked my kids to help me think of ways and they have some good thoughts. I’m looking forwad to also hearing about and seeing acts of kindness you will be passing out to others.
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