Kindness | True Aim

Create the Good: 25 Acts of Kindness

Janine — Wed, 25 Nov 2015 19:59:57 +0000

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Create the Good for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.

Every day, we hear about ordinary people giving back in extraordinary ways – from building wells in Africa to children starting non-profits from their passions. Kindness can be as simple as opening the door for an elderly person, or picking up litter on the ground. However, if you’re wanting to try something bigger, it can be hard to know where to start. If you want to use your skills and passions, Create the Good is for you.

Create the Good connects people with local places needing volunteers. You can search by location and keyword to match your interests. Whether your passion is helping animals, recognizing veterans, or giving the homeless a helping hand; Create the Good has thousands of volunteer opportunities all across the US.

This Christmas season, Create The Good is having a 25 Days, 25 Ways to Give challenge that can be completed from anywhere. Once you sign up, there is a chart full of 25 acts of kindness available for you to complete. Each opportunity is great for families, as even the youngest members can contribute. Ideas range from making a meal for a homeless family, grabbing groceries for a neighbor, complimenting strangers, or simply calling a friend feeling under the weather.

In addition, every act of kindness completed gets you entered in a sweepstakes. Create the Good is giving away 25 $100 Visa gift cards, and are offering a grand prize trip for two to Smuggler’s Notch Resort in Jeffersonville, Vermont.

To kick off our Create the Good challenge, we decided to start with baking cookies for local librarians and firefighters. For our librarians, we baked some pumpkin spice cookies and chocolate chip cookies, and for our firefighters we made over three dozen chocolate chip cookies. (tip for baking for firefighters/police officers: they eat about two to three times as much as your average person.)

It was also fun for the whole family, and even our six year-old had a blast participating! The library was busy, but Ms. Lori stopped to pose for a quick picture. And, selfies from the fire station:

— So what are you waiting for? Take the challenge to give back, and join the 25 Days, 25 Ways to Give campaign today!

The post Create the Good: 25 Acts of Kindness first appeared on True Aim.

Christmas Cookie Cutter Cards for Soldiers

Janine — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 00:10:27 +0000

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of BIC® for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.

When my husband had to leave for training, it was always hard for us. That was just for military training. I cannot imagine what it would be like to spend Christmas away from home and in enemy territory.

There’s still time to bring a little Christmas cheer to a solider away from home.

You can show your appreciation for their sacrifice by making this simple Christmas card with BIC Mark-It Permanent markers. They come in 36 packs for regular colors and 8 packs of metallic colors for endless inspiration.

For this card, I used #DeepSeaBlue for #BICMerryMarking and a star cookie cutter to trace. I wanted my card to be bigger than normal because our soliders deserve a bigger than normal thank you!

After I traced my star with a pencil I went over it with my marker, highlighting one side of the stars to make them pop by going over that side again to make it look bold.

Then I added a thoughtful message inside and made my own large envelope from wrapping paper.

I’m excited to make even more of these with different shapes, like a Christmas tree or snowman.

As for getting your cards to the soldiers, you can find lots of places that will take your cards and get them to the right place or just call your local Red Cross office and they will tell you what to do. Valiant Veterans will also take a minimum of 5 cards until December 12th, but if you are late you can contact the USO and they will deliver them any time.

I’m nominating Karen, Kara, and Kathrine to join me in this challenge!

I hope you will consider writing a few cards today and get the booklet of merry marking and a coupon to start marking!

The post Christmas Cookie Cutter Cards for Soldiers first appeared on True Aim.

Simple Acts of Kindness For Kids

Kathryn — Thu, 10 Apr 2014 14:57:33 +0000

We see our own human nature so truthfully portrayed as we watch our young children. Self control, gentleness, sharing, and kindness are often exercised only when they desire to. Unfortunately, it’s often the case with adults too, including myself.

It is so much easier to reach out, to share, and to respond to someone else’s needs when we want to. The gift of kindness involves teaching our children that it is always about thinking of others before themselves, even at the most inconvenient times. Acts of kindness are all about bringing happiness to the lives of people around us. The wonderful thing is that simple acts can be done everywhere!

Teaching Simple Acts of Kindness

We were so excited to be a part of a group of bloggers today who are sharing ideas of how they are helping their children learn about simple acts of kindness or deeds that can set off a chain reaction. The idea started from a wonderful book by Emily Pearson titled, Ordinary Mary’s Extraordinary Deed. (Affiliate Link)

The book details an ordinary girl who has a very ordinary life and decides to do a very simple act of kindness that ends up setting off a chain reaction around the world. It’s an inspiring book that encourages kids to look for the simplest ways to bless others around them and hopefully inspire them to pass on the good!

Often our lives are so jammed packed that we forget to look at all the opportunities in front of us to pass on kindness. We have tried to instill in our kids the desire to dig deep even when they may not feel like it, to ALWAYS keep their eyes open for these opportunities. You never know what simple act can change the world!

In teaching our kids the qualities of kindness we try to have them understand the primary factor behind it is that it’s always about others. In 2011, our son Jackson was diagnosed with a very rare and serious heart condition. We have spent the last couple of years in and out of the hospital for appointments, testing, and countless hours watching others pace the halls anxiously waiting for results.

At our last appointment we knew it would be the perfect place to start a chain reaction of good deeds. It would teach our kids that even on a difficult day for us, it is also the perfect opportunity to share the love of Jesus with others who were going through the same thing.

The kids began by making special cards for their nurses and doctors. Jackson who is 2, decorated all of his with stickers and then colored over the top of them with markers. Who can resist that creativity? Ava, our little helper decorated almost a dozen cards with writing and drawings that could cheer up anybody!

We also decorated over 80 snack bags to hand out to patients and their families with little love notes that said:

” Hospital days can be long, so we hope this little snack helps get you through the obstacles you are facing. Be courageous and know that someone is praying and cheering for you today.”

As our appointment day arrived, the kids excitedly marched into the hospital with their basket full of snack bags and were anxious to spread the love. My heart was so blessed to see how something simple could bring a smile to others around us that were facing some of their greatest battles.

What a challenge for both us and the kids that even on days when we could easily be consumed with our own circumstances, that those very circumstances open the perfect opportunity to share the love and hope of Jesus with others. Who knows how far that love was truly shared and how deeply it inspired others to pay it forward. All it takes is ordinary people living ordinary lives to make the extraordinary happen.

We hope you have been inspired to look around at your circumstances and find ways that you can simply reach out to others. Please enjoy reading from our other group bloggers as they share their simple ideas today too!

An InLinkz Link-up

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Values for Children: Kindness

Janine — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 05:55:00 +0000

Want to teach your children values?
Below, you will find tips, tools, and resources to teach them about Kindness

Definition

Kindness is treating your neighbor as yourself. A kind person is helpful and has a generous attitude.

Verse

“Anyone who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty.” Job 6:14″Those who are kind benefit themselves, but the cruel bring ruin on themselves.” Proverbs 11:17

Activities

Let’s Talk About Kindness

Random Acts: Small gestures make a big difference. Make a plan to do something kind for another person with your child at least one day a week. It could be holding the door for someone at the store, bringing the neighbors a special treat, or taking the Kids for Kindness Challenge! Soon, kindness will become a habit in your family.
Through Play: Children learn and develop their personality through play. Don’t allow them to pretend to be mean, bossy, and wicked during their play. For example, My daughters love to play house. Audrey likes to be the Mom and Emma and the other dolls are her children. I don’t let Audrey pretend to be mean and bossy to Emma, and I don’t let Emma be sassy and rude to her sister. Be vigilant. Chances are, if they are practicing it through their play, it will come out when interacting with others.
Practice Makes Perfect: How your children treat you is a good indication of how they will treat others. Help them practice kindness by teaching them basic Manners at home. Don’t let your children ask for anything without a “please” and if they don’t use “thank you” when you hand it to them, take it back. This will make their behavior outside of your home even better!
Kill’em with Kindness: Kindness is powerful. If you can teach your children to react to negative comments with kindness instead of a negative emotion, they will be happier, more confident, and have less bullies. Practice this by asking them to respond to your question like, “I don’t like your shirt” with a nice comment like, “Oh, well I think your shirt is really cool. Where did you get it?” They might just make a friend from an enemy.

Check out the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation for more ideas.

Have any tips on teaching children about Kindness? Please leave a comment!

Books that Teach Values: Kindness

The Mine-O-Saur
This dinosaur doesn’t know how to share. He takes what he wants, but plays by himself. What will the lonely Mine-O-Saur do when he realizes he has no friends? Your children will love the dinosaur characters in this story. Ages 2+

A Christmas Carol
This story isn’t just for Christmas. A classic tale by Charles Dickens; this version is for children with intricate illustrations. However, you can find the original version for free in our Resource Center. Ages 5+

Character Book set

Strong character and social finesse are essential for success in life. Unfortunately, most preschool curriculum sets neglect these two areas in favor of more conventional subjects. The books included in this set will teach your children to act in accordance with Biblical virtues, like: love for God, respect for authority, hard work, self-discipline, personal accountability, and an awareness and concern for others.

These books give parents practical ideas for fostering these virtues in their children’s day to day lives. We have also included Responsibility Charts that help help parents systematically introduce chores and responsibilities to their children.

Activities That Teach Values: Kindness

The Compliment Game

Simply take turns saying something nice about the other person. Use your fingers to time the person so they don’t take longer than 10 seconds to think of something. The game ends when someone can’t think of anything to say. You could also eliminate people until you have a winner.

Linking up Here

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