Welcome to Week 5 of the Your Vibrant Family 30 Day Random Acts of Kindness Challenge! It's our final week!
This week’s challenge is about secret agent kindness. We’ll explore some simple ways we can show kindness to each other in fun, stealthy ways (with kindness activities, family discussion questions, Bible verses, and more).
Join us and let’s spread kindness! Remember–every act of kindness counts!
Just joining us? Awesome! Go here for more info about the Your Vibrant Family 30 Day Kindness Challenge!
Go here for the Week 1 30 Day Kindness Challenge post (Kindness to Family).
Go here for the Week 2 30 Day Kindness Challenge post (Kindness to Community).
Go here for the Week 3 30 Day Kindness Challenge post (Kindness to Our World).
Go here for the Week 4 30 Day Kindness Challenge post (Secret Agent Kindness).
Our Week 4 Results:
Secret ninja kindness was a hit in our house! Not sure if it was the secret part (which was fun) or the ninja part (my kids are totally into ninjas right now) but it worked!
I loved all the “secret” kindness I got:
…vases of flowers…
…beautiful displays…
…treasure hunts
with a special reward at the end! A massage (I was told that it had a $1.99 value! LOL!)
It was also fun to do my own secret acts of kindness. What were those? Now, come on… I can’t tell… that would spoil all the fun.
(And alright fine… I didn’t take pictures of them. It was supposed to be secret, right?)
But seriously… this week was a great reminder to me too that kindness—any kindness—needs to be done out of a heart that isn’t looking for self-praise or admiration from men, but is simply wanting to spread God’s love and to serve Him (Matt 6:1-4).
God is so faithful to shower us with blessings here on earth… I can’t imagine all the “stored” blessings He has for us in heaven when we choose to quietly serve and love our world through His strength!
Overall Kindness Challenge Results
I’m glad we did this challenge! It got all of us out of our comfort zone (handing out flowers in front the store, anyone?) and got us thinking outside of the box.
It made us aware that there are so many needs all around us… and an equal amount of opportunities for the everyday, average person (like you and me) to meet those needs.
Our family had many wonderful discussions around these topics and God was so faithful to give us incredible insight into His word during those discussions.
Now it’s your turn!
Let us know:
What were you biggest take-aways from participating in this challenge? What did you learn? How were you and your family blessed by giving kindness to others?
This leads me directly to this week’s challenge (the final one for our series!)….
Kindness Challenge Week 5: February 28-March 5
Kindness Appreciated
Suggested Kindness Activities:
This week we have a final twist on the challenge.
We’re going to give kindness (to those who have been kind to us) by paying the kindness forward.
There are two practical ways we’re going to explore that this week.
1) Simple, Purposeful Thanks
The Who:
Our lives are blessed DAILY by people who show us kindness. Even in the darkest times, our lives are FILLED with kindnesses to be thankful for. You probably know who you need to thank for these kindnesses, but here’s a list to get you started:
God. (for his mercy, his salvation, his provision, his love, his peace… need I go on?!)
Your spouse
Your kids
Your parents and extended family
Friends
Co-workers
Leaders of groups you or your family participate in
Others in your community
Local businesses or organizations
Local government agencies or officials
The How:
How can we say thank you for these kindnesses? We can:
—tell them (notes, emails, in person)
—show an act of kindness to them (meeting a physical need, spending time with them, offering words of affirmation, sharing a hug, giving them something they’d appreciate)
—pray for them (what are their biggest needs right now? How can we help them through by lifting their cares up to God on their behalf?)
2) Develop a Kindness Dream
My husband and I have a dream of building a small stand-alone structure on our property so that others (such as traveling missionaries or needy families) could stay for free.
Now this isn’t a kindness that we can give yet, but, it’s a kindness dream that we have. God has planted it in our hearts and we are trusting that He will make it a reality for us someday.
It makes me so happy to think about it. Here’s how you can have a kindness dream too!
4 Ways To Developing A Kindness Dream
1) Dream big. What would you love to do to show kindness to your family, to your community or to your world? It’s OK if these things aren’t achievable right now. Just take some time to dream and imagine what God could do through you! Invite your kids into this process too! What are their dreams?
2) Pray about it. Give these visions and plans to the Lord. They may not happen this week, this year or even this decade. But keep giving them to God and ask Him to confirm if this is His will, and if it is, how you can slowly (in some tiny way) begin moving toward this bigger plan.
3) Keep your eyes peeled for doors of opportunity. “Doors of opportunity” may not be obvious. They may even be minuscule in comparison to what the ultimate dream entails. But if there are small step (even a mindset shift) toward the ultimate kindness dream, then pray about them and consider if this is part of God’s plan for the dream.
4) Trust in the dream-giver. If He has birthed these dreams in your heart, then you can trust that He will be faithful to make them come to fruition. Keep asking Him to confirm this in your heart, and for eyes to clearly see what steps can be taken to make this dream a reality.
Write, Discuss or Draw Activity
- How did it make you feel to be kind to someone?
- What were the favorite kind acts that someone did for you?
- What is your big kindness dream?
- What kind acts (or words, tone, etc) do you want to make a habit beyond the 30 days?
Bible Verses to Write, Discuss or Draw
I had a hard time narrowing these down to only a few verses this week (in fact, I included twice as many than normal). There are literally pages and pages of verses that we could study! I pray that you are blown away by these verses—I was!
- 2 Corinthians 1:3-7
- Psalm 136
- Psalm 139:1-18
- Psalm 32:1-5
- Hebrews 13:7
- Hebrews 12:1-12
- Galatians 5:22-25
- Ephesians 1:3-11
Tell Us About Your Kindness Journey!
- Invite Others. Share this post on your own FB page, Twitter feed, Pinterest page (or whatever social media you enjoy) and invite others to join us! Don’t forget to use the hashtag #YVF30DayKindnessChallenge!
- Share Ideas! If you have other kindness ideas, resources or Bible verses that can encourage others, please share them in the comments below!