Sunday Sharing

Kindness:  the state or quality of being kind; a kind act; kind behavior; a friendly feeling...

Outside of a definition, what does kindness mean to you?

When I think of kindness, I think of acting on a feeling of compassion, and I think of Jesus Christ, the best example of kindness.


"A new commandment I give unto you, That ye alove one another; as I have loved you, that ye also blove one another.


 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have alove one to another."  (John 13 34-35)


I think of the kindness of extended family, neighbors and friends who have welcomed Gabby into our family and neighborhood.

I think of friends who stop to talk to us and ask us how we're doing and how they can help.

I think of kind words from people who take the time to comment on the positive.

I think of people who help, even when it isn't easy, or convenient...or sometimes even necessary.

I think of children who find ways to include other children in their play.

I think of so many, many examples...

My own life and view of kindness was forever changed almost four years ago, on August 18, 2007, on the day Joie lost her family.  I remember hearing accounts of that day, even from seasoned professionals-first responders who were on hand that day to help, who described that accident as one of the worst they'd seen in their careers...

Which always makes me think of the kindness of total strangers who rushed into that tragic and horrible scene to rescue one little girl.  Their names are Jaci and Jeareme Hawks, and I've written a little about them before, but words can't express how much it meant to our family and to Joie to have them there that day.

Because of them, Joie was shielded from the horrific scene around her.

Because of them, she was cradled in the loving arms of adults who knew what to do and say to help her through a very frightening experience.

A week later when we received a letter in the mail from Jaci telling us how they had been there on the scene with Joie, our hearts were filled with peace.  Our entire family (myself, my siblings, and mom and dad) had pictured her lying there helpless on the side of the road in the summer heat, wondering what she had seen and experienced in those long minutes before the ambulance arrived on that remote section of highway.  Many times during that first week I had sobbed uncontrollably at the thought of wanting to have been there to hold her and protect her from all that was around her.  It remains one of the most heart warming things in the world to me to know that the loving people around Joie that day acted in ways that were calming and reassuring to her, even in the midst of the most horrific thing many of them had ever experienced.

A year later, when it was time to commemorate that day in a way that would give it meaning, I felt the heaviness and darkness of grief settling in.  It was out of a need to rescue myself from those feelings that a tradition was born...

That year we celebrated our first Random Acts of Kindness Day on August 18, 2008.  We've kept the tradition going since then.  The last two years I've sent an invite on facebook and others have passed it on to their friends.  This year I'm posting it here again also.

Please join our family on August 18 in the 4th Annual Random Acts of Kindness Day.  Ruth and Nick (Joie's parents) were the kind of people who would drop anything to help a friend or reach out to others.  In their deaths, many reached out to our family, and to Joie in kindness.  We received gifts from all over the world that year for Joie and for our family.  People who didn't even know us were thinking of us, and acting on those feelings.

We invite everyone to join with us in celebrating this day. Practice random acts of kindness.  Little things do matter.  Smile at a stranger.  Let someone go first in line.  Listen to a friend...or a child.  Whatever kindness you choose, do it with purpose and mindfulness of the impact of kindness on the lives of others.  And in doing so you help us to honor the lives of Nick, Ruth, and Audrey Weaver, and those who reached out to us in kindness on that day (and to those who always reach out in kindness to others).

Feel free to pass it on!  Share this link to our Random Acts of Kindness challenge...

And in the next weeks, as I blog, I anticipate a lot of celebration over an adoption, and a sealing, and weddings...

I also anticipate moments of sadness, and tears of sorrow, because no matter how much we think we're over it, grief never really goes away, and something about the smells, and sights and sounds of August triggers all those feelings all over again...

But this year I'm going to try to throw in a few blogs during our busy upcoming weeks about kindness, leading up to our 4th Annual Random Acts of Kindness Day, to keep it on our minds and in front of us.

Thanks for the support!