Stories by BeckyJaine (12 matches)

Our Mother Daughter Kindness Circle

Our Mother-Daughter Kindness Circle in North Carolina gets together most months to create things that are given in the spirit of kindness. Sometimes things are for strangers, and others it's for people we know.This past weekend we gathered to make flower pens. We took simple pens and attached a large silk flower to each pen using "frog tape" (it's a brand of green painter tape that doesn't get gummy when you use the pen). We made little note cards for each pen, with quotes about joy and kindness on them.

"Let the beauty of what you love, be what you do."

Many of the girls were making them for their school teachers. Each mother made one for her daughter, and each daughter made one for her Mom. We had a wonderful time together sharing stories of kindness and making something to spread JOY and KINDNESS to people in our community.
 

A Stolen Trombone and the Necessary Kindness

A couple of months back, my son Shine had his trombone stolen from our car. Very sad. We learned a lot. We were angry. We were disappointed, then we moved through that and learned and felt compassion for the person who stole it. We also learned that telling friends about our sadness connects us, and makes it feel, well -- less icky. We received sweet messages of condolence all over the world from friends expressing interest, to people chipping in for the next one. Shine received the sweetest letter from a classmate reminding us that although things in life can be sad and painful, kindness is everywhere to be found (and money was included towards the new instrument). And then, another radical act of kindness, a student at a different school heard about the situation and decided he no longer used his trombone (he'd moved on to other instruments) and that he wanted ... Read Full Story >>

Can you put this anonymously to that Mom's bill?

We went out to dinner tonight to celebrate my daughter's beautiful choral concert. We don't do this often because of our tight budget. I noticed a very tired mom come in with her three children, perhaps triplets, maybe about age 4 or 5. She looked like she had just finished work. She sat with them quietly taking care of all their needs; cups sorted with straws, crayons for coloring, etc. Then I noticed, as soon as their finally food arrived, she took a bite of her food and then one of the kids had to go to the bathroom. They all left the table and she ushered them--so lovingly--especially after what may have been a long day at work. (She as wearing some kind of uniform.) I excused myself from the table and went discreetly to hostess stand. I handed the hostess $15 and said, "Can you put this anonymously to that ... Read Full Story >>

Reflections from a Giver

While driving, today I passed a man holding a sign, begging for donations. I had two dollars in my wallet. I decided I wasn't going to give because money is so tight right now. Then, it felt wrong of me not to give, so I decided to give him half of what I had. I rolled down my window and handed him one dollar. He said, "God Bless You!" and I said, "You too." It was not a full exchange. As I drove away, I wished I spoken more to him, and I wished I had given him all that I had, but instead I was too afraid to give more of myself. Driving home I wondered if I had neglected a powerful universal law, the law of giving from my heart instead of my head, a law that perhaps creates boomerangs of abundance?! By not giving it all from my heart, perhaps ... Read Full Story >>

Learning Self-Forgiveness From An Act of Kindness Undelivered

A couple days ago, my 9-year-old sonshine and I were grocery shopping. At the check out, a mother was trying to understand her bill. She didn't have enough money for her milk and cheese. The grocery store manager removed the items from her cart and carried them away to the refrigerator section. My son and I watched, trying not to intrude. We smiled at her little boy, who was perhaps 2-years-old. His beautiful brown eyes and bright smile--his deepening gaze filled my heart while it simultaneously broke at what was unfolding. There have been times I myself didn't have money to buy groceries my family needed, but today was different. It was payday so there we stood inline with our groceries. I whispered to my son and told him to run and get the manager back with the items. He was confused. He didn't understand me. I was trying to do an act ... Read Full Story >>

Sadness Though an act of Kindness

Dear Friends in Love and Kindness, I’m feeling blue and rather courageous about sharing this act of kindness. It’s not a feel good story about choosing to do something kind for someone, but I’ll tell you anyway, in honor of the fact that sometimes it hurts deeply to open our hearts and extend kindness with the intention of alleviating another person’s suffering. This past weekend I was in grocery store when a woman asked me for 50 cents towards buying some chicken . She said she was hungry. I didn’t have any cash, but I offered to buy her chicken if she didn’t mind sticking around with me until I finished shopping. She didn’t say anything but started walking beside with me. She had a very sad demeanor, and I noticed she had a black eye. She shuffled her feet as she walked. She slurred her speech. (I noticed many judgments rise up within ... Read Full Story >>

Mother Gets The Help Of 'Kindness Elves' To Join Family Kindness Challenge!

Hello Dear Ones, It's been a lovely season of Kindness at our home here in North Carolina. Inspired by a wonderful blog post I read years ago and of course all you amazing and inspiring good people of KindSpring, these little Elves appeared in my kitchen, asking for my children's help in bringing kindness challenges to life. 6 days of challenges building up to Christmas. My 7 year old son (also pictured) was super excited to share stories of the Kindness Elves, as he often wondered why Elf on the Shelf never visited our house. I told him, different houses have different magic... and different elves.  Here are a few photos of the Kindness Elves posing to share their kindness and love. (They were living in a Target store for a while until they told me they wanted to visit my house, born in China of some very talented artists, I'm ... Read Full Story >>

Kindness Leaves Gratitude

Hello dear Kindhearts, Writing to share a couple friends made this basket of leaves this weekend, for our friends at the school in India, who need paper leaves for their Grateful Tree. Please message me if you'd like to contribute, and I'll send you my address (or school address depending where on earth you are). Want to add to our collective pile? You can use flower or leaf punches OR here are a few free downloadable printable PDF's I found online. I am not affiliated with this company, but I'm grateful they are giving these away! ~simple heart shaped leaves (pages 2 or 3 are best sizes) ~oval shaped leaves (pages 2 or 3 are best sizes) Thanks so much for your kind consideration. much love and kindness to you all <3 - See more at: http://www.kindspring.org/my/feed/index.php?cid=0&sid=101971#sthash.mU2p1Qhk.dpuf ... Read Full Story >>

Blessing People Coming Out Of Prison

I hope you all are well. It means so much to me to have this beautiful place to share things that spread more kindness and joy. Each of you, in every way, inspire me to feel and think MORE about kindness possibilities available to us in each moment. Thank you. It's been a while since I shared here. The past 6 months have been one of great challenge. A beautiful friend of mine, Joanne, has been in the dying time of her life. She knew it, and embraced it and as she died last week I thought of how a shooting star shines so brightly as it trails the universe, right before it goes out. it was a great privilege to have her company these past months. One of the last things she asked me was to find an organization supporting women coming out of prison, to provide her business clothing to ... Read Full Story >>

Gems Of Love, The Wisdom Of Kindness And A Printable

I'd like to share story about a little random act of kindness I did this week. I took a glass container of Kindness Blessing Scrolls to a local indy coffee shop to leave out for strangers to take. I believe that these little gems often are discovered by the people who need the message, like a fortune cookie sometimes. I told the cashier what they were and she said she'd have to check with the manager. I explained that there was nothing self serving or promotional about them, just little gems of wisdom for customers. She was very suspicious and took my email address and glared at the beautiful --well at least to me-- jar that I set beside her register. It made my heart sad that she didn't share an ounce of my enthusiasm. Sometimes doing random acts of kindness takes an act of courage, many times they don't turn out ... Read Full Story >>

I Do Believe In Fairies: Kindness Opportunity

Hello Dear Kind-hearts, I have a very joy-filled opportunity for anyone who wants to play and give a little kindness to a "stranger" in Indiana. I met a woman online in a private group called "Art Abandonment." The concept for AA is to make and leave art behind with a little love note for the recipient. The creators are a force of giving... so much beauty and kindness! Anyway, a woman posted a note of longing to the group saying how she wished she would discover some abandoned art in her town. I decided to employ a kindness fairy in Raleigh, NC. I told my new friend there was a fairy in my neighborhood who might be up to the job. I then posted this video to her. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFnul4k5hUM She responded with great curiosity and keen interest, and entrusted her mailing address to me. I'm getting ready to anonymously send her a teeny little journal the fairy ... Read Full Story >>

Do What you Can, When you Can

Lone turtle walking across the middle of our road. My daughter jumped out of our car and ran to the turtle and moved her safely to other side of the road, closer to water. Eastern box turtle we think.

My children teach me about kindness most every day. “Do what you can, when you can" kindness.
 

I Do Believe In Fairies: Kindness Opportunity