A Thousand Acts of Kindness

Many families supported the 6th grade towel drive for the Humane Society.  Over 60 towels were donated! The Humane Society was really surprised and appreciative.  They told the 6th graders that they don't receive any outside funding so they run solely on donations.  The Humane Society takes in several hundred animals a week.  The first thing those animals get when they come is a bath so they go through a LOT of towels!

In Dicken's "A Christmas Carol," three Ghosts visit Scrooge and show him visions of his actions in the past, the present, and the future. So we asked the question: Looking back over this Advent season, would scenes would you see? ...generosity. The willingness to give. It would see me baking for my family and treating my friends. When I do this I feel refreshed... ....trying to do my best to be kind. Although I am sinful and do wrong things, I like to try to be kind in things like holding doors. It is easier for me to do little acts of kindness than larger ones, but I try to help others in as many ways as I can... ...all the good, kind, and just things that I do in my everyday best. But it will also see things that are not pleasing... ...trying to help out with my little sister, but it would also notice a bit of frustration... ...helping my mom and my siblings, and kind of having Christmas spirit... ...it would see me noticing the little ways to help people...

We are raising money for World Renew. Their website describes their mission with: Living Justice, Loving Mercy, Serving Christ "Compelled by God’s deep passion for justice & mercy, we join communities around the world to renew hope, reconcile lives, and restore creation." The Avail Middle School hopes to raise enough money to buy a herd, which includes a goat, a pig, and a calf, along with training and support from World Renew for people to move from just subsisting to living a more abundant life. Our Advisory groups are competing for the highest total points (Pennies are positive points! Everything else counts against you!). A couple of pennies isn't going to make a difference, but sandbagging your opponents' advisories with nickels, dimes, tens and twenties really does! ( Stay tuned for the total $$$$ raised!) LORD, Thank you for the opportunity to make a difference in the world!                     ...

We salute Mrs. Koppendrayer's Advisory for planning such an epic Christmas week for the middle school-Secret Santa, Penny Wars, CHRISTMAS PARTY!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!! (And there are 9 people in Krs. K's group, so that's 9 Acts of Kindness! "I wish it would just snow so we could go sledding and not do that annoying gingerbread thing--it's going to be TOUGH and CHAOTIC!!!!! But, we will stay positive and confident that IT WILL WORK! My piano teacher gives out candy canes to each of her students. I returned the kindness by giving her chocolates-Giarardeli! So today, Mrs. Teunissen gave everyone in her Advisory candy canes (and so did Mrs. Amen). Yesterday, my dad told me to take out the trash. I even took the cans to the curb without being asked. Yesterday, I helped my siblings get ready for school, even though I didn't feel well. This morning when I was coming to school, I helped some of the elementary students get into the building because they forgot t...

At Church: The Kindness Kid strikes again! Here's what he says:      Today I went to Cub in Bloomington with my youth group and rang bells for the Salvation Army which helps those in need. And he wasn't the only one ringing bells:      My youth group went to the Eden Prairie Cub and rang bells for the Salvation Army In other action:      Our small group had a Christmas party for someone at my church who has cancer. She is not that old and has two kids, and may not live.       The pastor at our church invited all the widows and widowers to his house for a Christmas brunch yesterday. O n the Homefront: Something awkward happened to me and a friend gave me some advice. It was really helpful. Yesterday I was feeling terrible, sick, and out of it, and then I ran into Lily at Target. We talked and she made me feel better. A random lady was helping my brother and me in the store. Watching us reminded her to...

In school: Katie shared hot chocolate from the Snack Shack at lunch yesterday--we felt warm! Mrs. Beekman spent her lunch time helping us with our song for the concert--we really needed the help. Mrs. Beekman let us (the boys) out of the song! Mrs. Beekman really gets us! I held two doors yesterday going to the elementary building. Mrs. Koppendrayer gives us ginger snaps in Science. Lou (I think it was he), held a door for me, then I held the other door for him. Chain Reaction! That's 2, right there! Mr. Lamfers caught the mouse in my classroom. We didn't tell Katie about the mouse in my room. (We didn't want to upset her!)                                                                                      At the Christmas Concert: We enjoyed the opportun...

It is so much fun to get stories from people in our community! Here are a few more: Yesterday morning, my mom got up early and made 4 fresh and hot lunches and breakfasts for my kids so that they could have their favorite foods for lunch. When we got to her house, it was all ready and packed to go in   individual containers so the kids didn't have to worry about how they were going to package it in their lunch boxes. They came home with happy and full bellies and it saved me a lot of work. At work, a specials teacher went and made homemade chocolate sauce for each teacher that she came into contact with. That's over 50 teachers! She put them in lovely jars and wrote wonderful things on them that pointed us towards Christ. She even made one for each of us who are in the office.