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.

These Acts of Kindness will get us close: Yesterday, I held a door for a couple of people, then FIVE classes went through. I had basketball practice that day and I was LATE! While my 3-year old sister was at my aunt's house, she was really energized. It was 12:30 at night and she was still blabbing away. I helped calm her down. I was really tired the next day, but I kept her our of mischief.  My dad helped me last night with History Day My family and I donated 30 gifts for the Christmas store at a church in North Minneapolis. Is this 30 Acts of Kindness?!??! We think so! Miss Johnson plays Christmas music in class. It makes her room Jingly. Mr. Ross sings Happy Birthday--dramatically. Tonight, right after the middle school concert, I noticed a little boy standing out in the cold just holding the door for people. With each one he smiled and told them to have a good night. I thought this was the cutest thing ever, and worth at least 10 acts!! Fr...

On Monday, this nice lady held a door for my aunt, me, and my cousin. She was smiling!   The 4th grade sibling of a Middle Schooler is here every Tuesday morning before Jazz Band, and he stands by the door to let people in. People Who Do Kind Things Daily: We are thankful for our parents who drive us to school and take us to sports practices (they are better than Uber!). Our parents encourage us and the FEED us! We are also thankful for our teachers, who teach us even when we are annoying. They are so patient with us! And a special thank-you to Mr. Lamfers! Wow-we found out just how much he helps us when we tried to do his job yesterday. He also drives us on fieldtrips and fixes everything in the building, keeps the grounds and shovels the walks to keeps us from slipping. And to Mrs. Jelgerhuis! She answers our calls, solves our problems, sorts milk and lunch everyday, and works constantly behind the scenes to make sure our day goes well.

Today, we helped Mr. Lamfers out by cleaning the Middle School. He does this for us, like every single day! Our first idea was to lock the door to the bathrooms so nobody could go in there and make a mess. Then, we decided we need to go all ham on this (thanks for the inspiration, Rusty Johnson!): And now the BIG QUESTION: How many acts of kindness do we count for this? Does each toilet count as a separate act? We tallied up the toilets scrubbed, the rooms vacuumed, the sinks scoured, microwaves decrusted, and floors swept and mopped. Then we weighed those activities by the heaviness of the mop when it is wet, the crustiness on the top of the microwave, and the sliminess of the sink, and mathematically calculated our contribution to Middle School Cleanliness to at least 21 Acts of Kindness. Best comments from the afternoon: "I can't figure out how to work this vacuum!" I NEED TO WASH EVERYTHING!!!!! The Test Tube Cleaner Strategy was surprisingly potent! I...

Kindness Observed: A second grader held the door for a friend, then stood there as 8 more people walked through. Is this 1 act of kindness? It was cold out, she was really cute, and we really want to get to 1,000. We think it is 9! I was at Menards and I saw this man and he had a cane and he dropped something and couldn't pick it up. A man nearby came and picked it up for him. In church yesterday there was this girl who drew a picture for our pastor. He showed it to everyone at the next service. It was a picture of him eating ice cream! Kindness Experienced I shopped for gifts for a Christmas store for people in a congregation in the North side of Minneapolis. On Saturday I was at a Gopher's basketball game with my family. I saw the Oregon Volleyball team watching the basketball game. I asked my dad if we could go to the volleyball tournament. During halftime, he said he was going to "buy popcorn." He came back with 4 tickets to the volleyball tournament...

A friend shared this story: "My daughter is on a dance team. Last year at this time, she was in a dance competition. At the end of the event, the very first team to dance came up and danced again. The crowd was clapping and cheering, but we couldn't figure out why they got more time on stage. This year, at the same event, it was explained. The father of one of the girls in the competition had lymphoma. He was undergoing cancer treatment, and tried to make it in time to watch his daughter dance, but he was late and missed it. A parent from a different team in the competition noticed, and requested that his daughter's team dance again so he could see it. The organizers granted the request and he got to watch his daughter dance-for the last time. He died two weeks later." Thanks for the story, Andrea--you are right-this is worth at least 10 Acts of Kindness!

"With Joy..." That's how one of the 8th graders signed the email she sent over the weekend... "I'm on the subway and a olderish lady gave up her seat for someone a lot younger than she. Before that, she switched with me so that I could sit next to my dad. It made me smile and she was smiling back the whole time." And a few Acts from last Friday: One from a student:            "Mr Lamfers didn't give up trying to get the heat working in the middle school today!" And a bunch observed by Mrs. T: Kara's family adopted a dog from the humane society this week - providing a loving home to one of God's furry creatures One of the 7th graders shared their snack with someone who didn't have one 2nd grade room moms provided a delicious lunch for all the teachers today. Room parents volunteered to watch classrooms today so teachers could have lunch together. My mom - knowing I have a cold - made me soup and bought me th...

Here's what the 8th Graders are thinking: "God is a perfect God with everlasting love and kindness. There is no boundary to His kindness, which gives Him full power to love us and help us when we need it." "I know that God will be right beside me wherever and whenever in my life. He will also guide me in the hard choices that I will make. God knows my fears, stresses, and doubts. I know that I can depend on Him when I need his help in life." "He knows right now I am finding who I am and that is comforting... He knows me better than I know myself." It is amazing how God will always be with me... It is just so weird that I don't deserve any of this, yet God will never let me down. There is a love and comfort He gives that nothing in the universe can match. God is my ultimate example, and I want to reflect what He does for me by doing for others...this is not easy, but I will do all I can... "God wants us to reflect His image. I want Go...

Thank you, LORD, for so many opportunities to extend the kindness you give us to those around us! Here is what the 8th graders were up to today: "I helped someone understand something in his band music, and he did the best he had ever done." "My church youth group went shopping for PCYC. It is for people in need to buy Christmas presents and toys for their children." "Our former bus driver is in a quilting group with my mom. My mom made a super cute pillow but didn't know how to finish it, so Marion did it for her." "I filled an Operation Christmas Child box with a lot of stuff for a preschooler in Africa." "Mr. Lamfers has been driving everyone around all week and we REALLY APPRECIATE that!" "My mom and aunt helped by Grandpa clean out his house and decorate it for Christmas. It took them at least a couple of hours." "My dad drove me and a friend to JAM and back even though he had work to do. He took th...

At School: 2 hungry students were fed. One thanks to Mrs. J and some pizza found in the freezer, the other thanks to sweet-hearted girls who shared their lunches 3 more doors were held. This is a popular way to make someone else's life a little bit easier And act of compassion was shared and observed Someone picked up gum. Already been chewed. Really Gross. But now--not stuck on the bottom of someone's shoe! An act of bravery as well as kindness. And on a related note: My piano teacher has a mat outside her door and it was super icy on one side--the side everyone walks on. We flipped it so people wouldn't slip. Stories are also starting to come in from the community! Here are a few: From Jordyn F:      A good friend and boss helped me clean my classroom after the kids left. From Jenna R:        I was working with a 4th grade student this morning who needed to use the restroom, when he was finished and washing his hands he clea...