My New Collection

I voted this week. But not before I was deluged with political junk mail. It truly seemed worse this year than in previous years. After tossing many of them in the trash, I decided to begin a collection. I started my collection one week before the primary. I received a few each day in the mail, while others were left at my door. I personally spoke to people representing one of the candidates on three separate occasions, each time explaining that I went to school with him, he played piano at my dad's funeral, and he already had my vote and that of my husband. After the third encounter, I went to his website and requested a yard sign. I think that may have warded off any other political visitors.

As the day of the election arrived, I laid out my collection. Twenty-one in just a single week! Pretty impressive, huh? Do you know I read not a single one of them? Do they really think a print ad is going to sway my vote? I know that the groups which printed each and every one of them worded things in such a way that made their candidate look like a saint and made the others look like dirty dogs. It's like asking a Honda salesman to honestly compare an Accord to the other companies' comparable sedans. I know how it works. He wants you to drive away in a Honda. If you want an honest opinion, you have to go to an unbiased source. The Accord may very well be the best sedan, but until you do your research, you just won't know.

By the way, collecting political junk mail wasn't as fun as I thought it would be. I threw them all out after all.

C-ism #2

"I want to invent a time machine and go back in time to tell people not to sin so Jesus wouldn't have to die for our sins."

C-ism #1

My son says the funniest things! Everything is said matter-of-factly, in all seriousness. It's all I can do sometimes to keep a straight face. He keeps me in stitches. For example:

"I love Coke Zero so much I would marry it, but that seems inappropriate."

Camp Kindness Wrap-Up

As Camp Kindness came to a close, I hope that my son has learned the importance of kindness. I hope that by passing on this lesson I have continued to repay the kindnesses that others have shown my family, from the friends who brought us food when we had no money for groceries, to the generous women who babysat our kids when we couldn't afford a sitter, to the man who bought my family lunch when I left my bank card at home. Not all acts of kindness are random or spontaneous. Some are planned and on purpose. Some are easy and fun. Others are difficult and take effort.

The bottom line is that God commands us to be kind. It's not an option. It's an everyday event. Even I need everyday reminders to be kind to those around me, from fellow drivers, to my coworkers, to my own family.

"Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." - Ephesians 4:32

I hope that being kind to others will be a joy to my children, not a chore. And while we don't show kindness to benefit ourselves, the smiles we spread bring joy to our hearts as well.

Camp Kindness - Day Four

Every neighborhood has a Mr. Wilson. You know, the grumpy old man who yells at the kids to stay off his lawn. Well, our Mr. Wilson lives across the street and two doors down. (We don't really know his name.) I think Mr. Wilson's La-Z-Boy must be right next to his front window because if anyone even comes near his yard, he opens his front door and steps onto his porch. One day, C was riding his bike on the sidewalk in front of Mr. Wilson's house, and Mr. Wilson came outside and told C to get out of his yard. The kids are afraid to play ball near his house because they don't want to have to chase down a stray ball. If we're out for a walk, no one wants to walk on his side of the street. We don't know his story. We don't even know if he's really grumpy, but he earned that reputation just from the few times we've interacted with him.

Out of the blue, this week he waved to us as we drove by. I guess this gave my son a glimmer of hope. He wanted to take Mr. Wilson some cookies. So yesterday, I gave C the recipe for Monster Cookies, and we went to the grocery store. C pulled all of the ingredients off the shelves, scanned all of the packages, and even ran my bank card. With my help, he made several dozen cookies. (I'll be making cookies for days; the recipe yields 12 dozen!)

We took a couple of cookies to my mom today, since it is her recipe, and we'll freeze some for her, for my brother, and for my family. We have plans for many of the others as well. (I'll tell you more about that tomorrow.)  But we packaged up three of the cookies in a cute little bag I saw on Pinterest. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a pic of C with our bag, but this is what it looked like:

We've been talking about today's act of kindness for days, but when it came time to deliver the cookies, the fear set in. And the begging started. "Mom, can't we put it on his porch really early in the morning?" "Mom, can't you just give it to him?" "Mom, will you at least carry it?" "Do I really have to talk to him?" It's hard to be kind when you're scared. I told him that being kind isn't always easy. Sometimes, we have to just do it. He did, and Mr. Wilson didn't yell at him. In fact, he seemed surprised that we made cookies for him. He said "thank you," and we were rewarded with another smile.

Smile #4!





Camp Kindness - Day Three

Time to honor our mailman! Since it's the first day of summer, we thought it would probably start getting hot in that little truck of his. Hopefully, a couple of Route 44 sodas will be enough to quench his thirst. And if he has time to stop by SONIC Drive-In during Happy Hour, this $5 gift card should buy several sodas for him!

C put our little smile in the mailbox, and lifted the red flag.

We didn't know exactly what time he usually drives by (We didn't even know his name!), but we did know that he drives down the opposite side of the street first. So, as we played computer games together, I watched out the door. I guess I missed his first pass because when I finally saw his mail truck go by, he had just visited our mailbox. We had intended to watch out C's window so that we could see his reaction. We missed it, but we still got our smile!



Smile #3!



Camp Kindness - Day Two

Today C took a donut to one of my second grade team teachers. After all, it is National Donut Month! We picked one with pretty pink sprinkles because she is definitely a girlie girl!

We drove to her house, and C put the box on her front porch. After he rang the doorbell, he skated (on the deadly Heelys) as fast as he could to the car, and we drove off as fast as we dared.

I was a little worried about her not being home. The donut wouldn't have made it very long in the sun. Fortunately, a secret Facebook message to her sister revealed that she had, indeed, found the donut.

Smile #2 for a SWEET Tuesday!

Camp Kindness - Day One

Since my daughter, A, left for Falls Creek youth camp this morning, I decided my son and I needed a project for the week. I've seen several Pins on Pinterest about random acts of kindness, and that seemed like a perfect place to start.

So the goal for the week is to make someone smile every day. For our first act, we set out to wish our landlady a happy Monday. We know she enjoys unique ink pens, and we frequently find cool ones at a local store.

We took this one to her with a note that read "Just a little something to QUACK you up!" When you push down on the duck's head, he lights up and quacks! Funny, huh? We visited her office and gave it to her. Smile #1!

The Philosopher

The things my son says!

"Cartoons think we're cartoons because we look different from them."

That's my boy!

Our family went to a church event at our local water park yesterday. During the devotion time, they gave the kids Tootsie Pops. As the leader told a Bible story about Daniel, all the children sat licking their suckers. All except my son, that is.

I'm afraid he doesn't know how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Tootsie Pop. The next thing I know, he's across the pavilion, digging in his belly button with the lollipop stick. I doubt he could even tell you who Daniel was.

Is this a kissing movie?

While watching Smallville this evening, my darling son said,

"They show love with kisses in movies, but they should just give gift cards."

That's right, son!

After the Rain

A couple of weeks ago, we had a horrible hailstorm. The hail shredded the beautiful leaves on my flowers. It beat all of my roses off their stems. It pounded my chrysanthemum bushes flat. My garden was devastated!

I had no idea that from such destruction would grow such glorious flowers! My cannas are in bloom. My petunias have perked up. And I have five stems of Milk and Wine lilies! Count them: FIVE!!!! I have never had that many flowering at once! How exciting!