Kindness Advent Year #8

It’s that time again for the Kelley family where we make our way through December doing a little something intentionally kind each day leading up to Christmas.  You can read all about how our Kindness Advent came about right after my Mom died in 2011 plus past posts and ideas HERE.

My most favorite grief advice/quote will forever be:

When your burden is heaviest, you can always lighten a little some other burden.  At the times when you cannot see God, there is still open to you this sacred possibility, to show God; for it is the love and kindness of human hearts through which the divine reality comes home to men, whether they name it or not.  Let this thought, then, stay with you:  there may be times when you cannot find help, but there is no time when you cannot give help.  -George S. Merriam

I will carry this quote around for my whole life.

We usually spend November mulling over all our kind ideas we would like to do each day in December, but this year I temporarily lost our advent envelopes and idea cards we’ve made over the years.  And out of sight meant out of mind.  Friday night Josh Kelley found our advent baggie and over dinner we proceeded to come up with all 25 ideas and set our planning into place.

So here is our official kindness list for 2018:

Hand out stickers to kiddos in stores, share breakfast with a family, giveaway candy canes, give a recipe + the ingredients to someone for dinner, ornament delivery, send mail, donuts for our elementary school, surprise chalk art, load bubble gum machines with quarters, giveaway flowers, sticky notes on lockers at school, cards & treats for our funeral home, cards & treats for our pediatrician’s office, Redbox rental bag, surprise a sweet friend, paint wood slices and leave around town, cards & present for our mailman, cards & present for our trash man, thank yous for our janitorial staff, decorate someone’s front door, notes for our favorite gas station worker, leave encouraging notes on cars, buy someone’s lunch, share Sonic happy hour and do some FaceTime caroling.

We’ve already kicked off the 1st, 2nd and 3rd with sharing fun stickers, a yummy breakfast drop and all the Kelley kids (minus Leo) sharing candy canes with their classmates.

Tomorrow we will carry on with our kindness and do our best to carry it through the end of the month.  If you want to follow along daily I’ll be keeping up with it all in my Instagram stories.

Let’s spread some kindness this month!

4 Comments

  1. BarB cole says:

    I love your heart for others! Think of your family often and Everett! Rainbows always makes me think of him.

  2. I just love this idea!! How do you give the trash collectors something? I’ve wanted to do this for years, but get stuck at the logistics. We live on a busy road so I’m scared to just leave something there and since we’ve never done it, I think they would just trash it!

  3. Patt Kelsey says:

    Simple, but most ?? I don’t know the word I’m looking for…effective? Powerful? Wonderful? I don’t know, it’s just a great idea.. And that QUOTE!! IT’S THE BEST!! Nothing heals, or takes our eyes and thoughts off ourselves and our problems, better than doing something for someone else. Simple pure gospel in action.

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  1. […] and Winter have already been requesting things for Christmas.  I’m working on a new Kindness Advent.  Josh Kelley has mentioned putting up his Christmas lights more than once already.  I may have […]

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