A bit of your heart? Or a piece of your mind?

So true ... our days are happier when we give people a bit of our heart rather than a piece of our mind.

It's not always easy. We have these things called - emotions and feelings. They surface and when anger, frustration, jealousy, resentment, and other negative energy abounds (inside of us - we want to give others a piece of our mind!) We want to be heard, understood, right, validated and so on...

What good does that really do?

It just feels better to be kind. Kindness and love always win.

Today, I received a very sweet email from my son (who is on a mission for our church) and I have not seen him for about a year. He has another year to go on his mission before he will come home.

I was touched by his kind words and the love he shared. The bit of his heart he shared with me - caused my heart to smile and it made me cry! I am thankful for his kindness.

He caused a kindness ripple affect - made me want to turn around and be kind to everyone around me. Amazing how that works!

What are you sharing today? 

A bit of your heart or a piece of  your mind?
Warning: Our actions have an affect on those around us.

Choose to share the good stuff. You won't be sorry. And a heart will smile :)

Paying it with LOVE ...

Let me just say: We didn't watch the Super Bowl yesterday ... 
so we didn't see the Super Bowl Ads ...

At the beginning of the year, my daughter broke her arm. (She was sledding out of town with a cousin and we received text messages from the ER with updates.) It was a bit traumatic and not the ideal way to start a new year. (We learned a lot together from this experience!)

Jump forward 4 weeks and it's time to have the cast removed! Today was the big day...

8:00 AM - cast off. x-rays taken.

8:30 - Meet with the Dr. - get instructions on how to get the arm moving again ... reminded that it's still broken and fragile. (The arm is much smaller than the other arm due to being stuck in the cast and restrained from movement.) My daughter felt a little discouraged ... (I think she thought once the cast was off, it would be all better.)

I offer encouragement as we check out. We got this! We can do this ... So proud of you!
:)

8:45 - Walked out the door ... I planned on taking her straight to school. She was a little bummed that the appointment didn't take longer as she wanted to miss first and second period :) ... remember those days?

She mentions how much she likes McDonald's pancakes...

8:55 - At McDonald's - we order her breakfast!

Cashier: "Hug!"

I wasn't sure what was going on ... there were people behind us full of smiles ... So I give my daughter a side-half hug ...

I try to pay with my debit card ...

Cashier: "You've probably seen the commercials ...You can pay with love!"

I see the total and try to pay again with my card.

Cashier: "Just hug ... and your meal is paid for!"

(BIG HUG)

Love. It matters.

This morning will stay with us for a long time ... great reminder of how important kindness is and how good it feels to give and share love!

Thanks McDonald's - WE GOT THIS.

Sweet to the soul ...

Yesterday, I read this beautiful verse -

Proverbs 16: 24

"Pleasant words are as an honeycomb,
sweet to the soul, and health to the bones."

So true, the words we say should be sweet and uplifting. They heal and mend and lift.
Kindness matters. Always.

On the second day of Christmas ...

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. ~ Plato

Kindness is a gift that changes lives and hearts.
This Christmas, be kind.

Inside the little brown bag ...

My son, Kaleb, was sick at the beginning of the week and he missed school on Monday and Tuesday. Luckily, he was feeling good enough to hit the halls again on Wednesday. (He's in the seventh grade).

While making his lunch, I decided to drop in a little note. I smiled to myself as I dropped him off at the middle school as I imagined what he would do when he looked into the bag and saw a love note from his mom ...

After school, we were running a couple of errands and (out of the blue) he said, "I kept the note you gave me."

To my surprise, he pulled the note out of his sweatshirt pocket. It was a sweet moment and reminder that the kind things we do for each other matter.

They matter so much that we hold onto them and tuck them away to keep and remember later!