Full Hearts

The boys, opening a care package from Emily and Neil on Saturday.

Sometimes, I lose my focus and find myself dwelling on people in my life that strive to bring me down. People who hurt me for no other reason than the fact that they themselves are horribly insecure and unhappy. I think we all can get down about things like that from time to time. Luckily, it is an infrequent occurrence for me, and even better still - - I really have very few people like that in my life. Thank goodness, I am finally at a point where I am realizing that you give negative people power when you feed into their negativity. It is a choice, my friends.

The flip side to this is that I am very, very blessed indeed. My family is. This has been proven to me, time and again by the angels in our life. People I can't even believe we are lucky enough to know and love. This love has been shown to me, for no particular reason, and during times when we are needing it the most.

When I was growing up in Topsham, I had a neighbor on Barrows Drive named Emily. We rode the same bus to school together. Sometimes we played together after school. Then came junior high and high school, and I'm sure we still rode the same bus and passed each other in the hall, but I don't really have memories of that. I have not seen her in person in over twenty years, and probably haven't had a face-to-face conversation with her in well over thirty.

Fast-forward to the age of Facebook, where Emily and I connected, and then reconnected. She, along with her husband Neil, blessed the boys and I with such kind words and gestures while Steve was in Iraq. They took particular interest in the boys. Emily told me once in an email, that "everyone deserves to have someone admire them from afar, just for being who they are." I cannot begin to tell you what this has meant to me, and what it has meant to the boys. They talk about Emily and Neil on a regular basis, like they are old friends -- I just love it. I remember one time when Griffin said, from the back seat of the truck, out of the blue, "Mom, Emily and Neil really love me."

I believe certain people come into our lives (or back into our lives) for specific reasons. Emily and Neil have shown me that love and kindness comes in many forms, and to have that in your life is a true blessing.  We love you, Emily and Neil!

Slow Days

Griffin, convalescing, with the ever-faithful Smokey

Things have been pretty slow around here these past few days, and things haven't been going exactly as planned. That is usually the case when there is sickness in the air. The latest victim in our family is Griffin - - he seems to be fighting some sort of respiratory flu, complete with fever, chills, hacking cough, and the like. So, he is resting, and I am playing nursemaid. Days like today serve to remind me of how thankful I am to be doing what I do. I am so glad that I don't have to fret about whether or not I have sick time to use so that I can stay home from work, or that I have to send a child back to school before he is truly ready, because I can't miss another day of work. So, while I am sad that Griff is sick, I am glad that I am here with him.

The weather has turned bitter-cold here in Idaho, and the weatherman tells us that we are in for some snow. Finally! I was starting to think that maybe winter had decided to skip us all together. Unfortunately, that snow is going to be followed by a string of days of rain and gloom. At this point I think I will be happy if we get an early spring. If it is going to be cold, I'd at least like some snow to go with it.

I am currently still computer-less, and struggling to maintain this blog. I miss writing, and I've also found that since my computer died, I'm just not taking many pictures. Typically, I take pictures nearly every day, and upload them every couple of days. Steve finally uploaded pictures from my Sony camera the other day, and it still had my pictures from Christmas on it. Not sure when I will solve this problem, but I'm not thinking it will be any time soon. So, I'm hoping to come up with a plan pretty quick here.

In the meantime, I have a sick boy to tend to. Here's hoping his fever will subside and we can be done with this current round of illness!

A Challenge

Photo: www.power-of-giving.com

A Random Act of Kindness is defined here as "the good deeds one does because their heart moves them, not because society or Miss Manners expects them. These are acts based purely on giving and sharing. When someone practices random acts of kindness, they are doing so with a clean heart, a skip in their step, a “warm fuzzy,” if you will, and they have no thoughts of retribution, recognition or duty." I bring this up because I have been doing a lot of thinking lately about how closed-off society in general has become from one another, and it is pretty sad. There are probably a multitude of reasons that people would give as to why they don't smile and greet people they meet on the street, stop for people in crosswalks (oh wait...that's a law, isn't it??), practice common courtesy on the roads, give each other the benefit of the doubt, and so on. The fact of the matter is, none of us are perfect, but it sure would be nice if we could all try a little bit harder to be pleasant, wouldn't it?

A Random Act of Kindness can be something as simple as holding a door for someone when you would have otherwise let it shut behind you, to surprising someone with an unexpected gift. From feeding a random parking meter that is about to expire, to cooking a meal for a friend in need. From looking the grocery checker in the eye and sincerely telling him/her to have a good evening, to paying for the person behind you in line at the coffee shop. The possibilities are endless, really.

Now, for the challenge. After you finish reading this post, go about your business as you regularly would, but really think about your interactions with those around you. Make an effort to make some one's day. You'd be surprised at what a difference a very small act of kindness could make in another person's life. For each Random Act you perform, come back to this post and simply post the word, "Done" in the comments. You may do this as many times as you can between now and next Wednesday, November 25th at 5:00 p.m. (mountain time). The more entries you have, the better your chances at winning.

The Rules: Your random act may be anything that has a positive effect on another person. It does not need to be elaborate. However, take this opportunity to be creative. Really think about how you interact with those around you. Your random acts can be directed at friends or strangers. Try to do both. The most important rule: You may not tell anyone at all about your acts. Not your spouse, not your friends...not a soul. You must perform your acts without any expectation of being thanked or recognized (thus, the simple "done" in the comments section). Out of all the entries, a person will be chosen at random after comments are closed on the 25th. That person will then receive a lovely package in the mail, full of treats. This will be my thank-you to you for participating in my little experiment. Have fun!