Throughout this year of The Kindness Project I have tried to be intentional about wearing my wristband as a reminder to go out of my way and perform an act of kindness. I have to admit, some days I’m better about it than others. Sometimes opportunities just seem to fall in my lap to be kind to others. Other times it can be a struggle to think of what I can do to show kindness.
One of the things that has helped me stay on track this year is the accountability of our staff team. Every week our team meets to catch up on everything happening at the Edmond campus and prepare for what lies ahead. These meetings are always a fun time to be together and, to be honest, you just never know what might happen in one of these meetings! We like to have a good time! However, every week our team is intentional about leaving the last ten minutes of our meeting free to do an act of kindness together. Each staff member takes a turn being responsible for leading the group in some act of kindness.
Throughout this year we have done everything from cleaning windshields in our parking lot for others, to writing kind notes for nurses and doctors at hospitals, to sending goodies to the police and firefighters. Although I’m not always the best at going out of my way to be kind to others, I know every Wednesday morning our team will remind each other about the importance of being kind, and we will hold each other accountable to make sure we do something kind that day.
This has helped me realize a few different things. First, showing kindness does not require much money, or a whole lot of time. Most everything we have done could probably be done for less than $10, and everything has taken less than 10 minutes. Second, I have learned that I am more likely to stay on track with this if I have others holding me accountable and helping me come up with ideas. Finally, I have learned that performing acts of kindness is a whole lot more fun when you do it with others! Today, I hope you will find just a couple minutes and someone else to go do something kind for someone. You might find that you bless their lives in a way you didn’t expect, and I can promise that you’ll have a lot of fun together making someone else’s day better.
Rev. Josh Attaway, Edmond Campus Pastor
