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Lately, I’ve been reading Ann Voskamp’s book, “The Broken Way” and man, is it a game-changer. She talks about overcoming your brokenness essentially by taking a dare to give. I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately, to the point to where my heart is aching to just simply help.
One of the things that can hold me back from offering what I can is finances. I tend to think that my little contributions aren’t enough, so I do nothing at all. I want to combat this way of thinking, so I’ve come up with a list of random acts of kindness that you can do on a tight budget. Use what resources you have, alter it to fit your needs and join me in being the hands of Jesus this holiday season.
- Bake a batch of cookies for your local police department or fire station.
- When returning your Redbox movie, hide an additional dollar in the case for a snack!
- Offer to watch a young couple’s kids so they can have a date night.
- Write thank you notes to law enforcement, doctors, pastors, mailmen and other people who do things for you!
- Clean someone’s house for them.
- Write an encouraging text message
- Leave an encouraging note in a book at a bookstore or the library
- Volunteer your time at your local pet rescue or homeless shelter
- Create blessing bags for those less fortunate with supplies from Dollar Tree
- Sing at a nursing home and pass out homemade cards
- Give hot chocolate to Salvation Army bell ringers
- Bring a movie and a snack to an invalid’s house for a movie day
- Shovel snow or clean the yard of an elderly person
- Teach a younger Mom a skill you’ve mastered
- Invite a new family over for dinner
- Next time you’re at the store, tell another Mama they are doing a great job and that their kid is well-behaved
- Go through your closet and donate clothes that you don’t wear anymore to Goodwill
- Write a letter to an old teacher, coach or Sunday school teacher that made a difference in your life and let them know how much they meant to you!
- The next time you get great customer service, let management know
- Bring your old magazines to Doctor’s offices
- Put your cart away
- Try to reach out to someone with a sad social media status
- For one week, post NOTHING negative on social media
- Listen to someone who has opposing views than you with an open heart and mind
- Make your husband two lunches, one for him and one to give away
- Pay for the person in line behind you
- The next time you head out, ask a shut-in if they need something picked up
- Have your child invite a lonely peer to your house for a playdate
- Donate your talents to your local church
- Let someone cut in line
- Hold the door
- Gather your old boxes to give to someone who’s moving
- Leave an encouraging note for your waiter
- Pray for someone
- Send a greeting card to someone just because!
Did I miss any? Let me know how you spread kindness!
Ok I’m saving this for when I get bored I’ll just refer to this list.
Great ideas!
The only one that made me pause was “put your cart away.” Maybe I’m just odd, but wouldn’t that fall under common expected decent behavior rather than something kind done occasionally? If I really wanted to be kind, I’d offer to put someone else’s cart away!
Lol! You would think it would be common courtesy. I used to work at a grocery store in my teens and found that sadly, it isn’t!