Growing up Catholic, I’ve always done something to mark the forty days of Lent. I attend a Lutheran church now and there is, at least in my experience, much less emphasis on the “giving up” than what I had previously become accustomed to. However, it’s always stuck with me that we should, in some way, mark these days.
(In previous years, I’ve given up alcohol… this year, that ain’t gonna happen.)
As we chatted over dinner on Wednesday night, I asked John what he was going to do. He said “oh, the same thing I always do. Give up Sports TV. Except the Final Four, of course. What about you?” It kind of struck me in that conversation that he and I were starting to go through the motions of Lenten sacrifice. (God gave his Son for us and we can’t be inspired enough to give up beer and basketball? We need to refocus!!) Especially in a year when Ellie has become very cognizant of who is doing what and why, I feel the need to step it up. Not just for her, but for me, too.
After a day of soul searching, I got the knock in the head that I really needed. Our blog friends over at David and the Giant posted this list of 40 Random Acts of Kindness and immediately, I texted it to John to ask what he thought. He was in! I was in! We may be a couple of days behind, but we’re doing it.
Here is our list. We have modified from David and the Giant to fit our lifestyle. 🙂
- Pass a gift card to the person behind us at Panera
- Send a “hug” in the mail
- Donate toys to a shelter
- Bring my children’s child care worker a yummy dessert
- Relay an overheard compliment
- Sign up to help at Feed My Starving Children
- Pay for the person behind me at Starbucks
- Bring treats to the nurses at the NICU
- Donate books to the library
- Send a note to a family with a baby in the NICU
- Hold the door open for a stranger
- Leave my Postal worker a thank you note
- Mail an old picture to a dear friend with a note about the memory
- Put a lottery scratcher in a library book for the next checker-outer to find
- Send a thank you card to a favorite Grad school professor
- Write a positive review on Yelp for a place I loved
- Donate clothes to Good Will
- Bring coffee to a coworker
- Let someone go in line in front of us
- Send a letter to a former co-worker telling them what I appreciated about them
- Say “hello” to people in the grocery store
- Leave a thank you note for our Pastor in the offering plate
- Change my Facebook status to a compliment of one of my friends and tag them so all of their friends can see
- Bring Ellie and Tessa to visit a great-grandparent
- Have Ellie mail a card to a friend
- Donate baby clothes and blankets to the NICU
- Bring healthy snacks to leave in our shared offices at work
- Clear our neighbor’s sidewalk after snow.
- Call a restaurant where I received great service and compliment the employee to their manager
- Leave a big tip when we go out to eat with a kind note
- Have Ellie color a picture for a friend
- Pick up trash in the common areas around our house
- Return someone’s shopping cart
- Bring flowers to someone special in our life
- Use my blog and Facebook to ask friends and family to donate to the National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS)
- Offer to help a coworker finish a task
- Pay a compliment to the trickier students in our classes
- Donate canned goods to a food pantry
- Leave a bag of candy at our neighbor’s
- Share a positive email with a parent
For more really awesome ideas for Random Acts of Kindness, check out http://www.randomactsofkindness.org/
http://www.joyshope.com/2011/10/happy-sunday-with-printable.html
Yo soy La Lay 
Love your list!! I like your adjustments, in fact, I may have to ‘steal’ a couple. I’ll be anxious to hear how it goes!
What a great idea! Although I’m only 39 days behind. 😦 next year for sure!!!