RACK It! - Day 0?!

I didn't expect to be posting about the success of RACK It! so soon, but last night, as we were rolling out the plans and getting psyched for our month of kindness, Kevin lit up!  He suddenly announced:  "I am not going to wait until tomorrow.  I'm starting right now!" And with that, he grabbed our ladder from its hook in the garage and trekked down the street (in the dark!).

You see, a few days prior, Kevin and I had been discussing a need that we could meet easily.  An elderly neighbor of ours is in a wheelchair.  He and his wife had had family over for Thanksgiving, and the family had strung Christmas lights along the roofline of their home.  What a sweet treat!  However, the next day a windstorm had blown the lights off their track and up onto the roof.  And there they sat because the couple could not get to them themselves.  When Kevin and I first saw the windblown lights, we had the best of intentions to go over to help out, but we also were on the go at the time, balancing our work and family, and shrugged our shoulders, saying, "It'd be really nice and we should do it, but not today." Over the next few days, we continued to ignore the need "because of our busy lives."  When Kevin walked out the door and down the street last night, I was in a bit of shock!  I mean, it was dark!  But he was right.  The whole point of this project is to remove our preconceived notions that might hinder acts of kindness and instead take positive charge.  My heart swelled with love for him.  (I love when simple acts resolve our love!)

Rack It! is going to be an amazing, family-building experience for us!

While he was gone, Owen and Kate went to work and made holiday cards, on which we wrote "You've Been Hit by a Random Act of Christmas Kindness."  The intention was to leave the anonymous notes on the front door and surprise the neighbor with the good deed.  BUT, while Kevin was down there, the neighbor came outside to see what was going on.  He and his wife were so blown away with gratefulness and surprise!  Kevin offered to return today to help with other projects.

Kevin came back into the house beaming (and were his eyes even watery?).  The kids and I could not believe how excited he was to have witnessed such grateful hearts and joy result from such a simple, quick act of genuine kindness.  It was EXCELLENT testimony for the kids!  Owen and Kate then walked back down with Kevin to deliver their RACK It! cards with big, happy smiles.

And Mission:  Spread Joy 2011 is a GO!