Speak Your Kind

Today I'm excited because these little beauties

were half off at Starbucks, so I snagged two of them,

one for me and one for our one-of-a-kind Assistant Principal.

Not sure how I missed it, but evidently this clever design 

was a part of their holiday collection last Christmas.

I love it ... and it has me thinking ...

about what it means to speak your kind.

So today, in my attempt to speak my kind, 

I'm sharing our story from Easter Sunday.

I'd spent the weekend with Kaitlyn in Austin. After church that morning, we found a Starbucks, then needed to fill my van up with gas for my three-hour ride home. I really wanted to go to a cheaper gas station, but in the interest of time, we settled on the HEB gas pumps next to the coffee shop. That's where we saw this.

This has happened to me before, 

losing my wallet, 

and it's not a good feeling. 

In fact, it's horrible.

So empathy and compassion kicked in.

We immediately tried to turn it in to the guy in the payment booth, but the booth was empty, probably because it was a holiday. Kaitlyn thought we might just leave it there, but I worried that someone else might come get it, so we looked at his license to get an address. Our GPS told us we could be to his house within ten minutes from where we were, so we drove it to his empty home. Guessing they were at an Easter service, too. 

Kaitlyn suggested we find him on Facebook, to private message him and let him know that his wallet would be waiting for him at home. So we left it underneath the front Wipe Your Paws doormat with a note scribbled on our coffee cup coozie that simply read: Happy Easter. Kaitlyn and Barbara. We drove away praying that he'd see the Facebook message and/or find his wallet before thinking it was stolen or lost forever and cancelling any of his cards.

Three days later, Kaitlyn got this response:

So happy that he found his wallet and kind of eager 

to hear his story, I looked Scott up on Facebook.

The parallels to the Easter story were not lost on me:

three ideas about what to do with the wallet,

three thank-yous in Scott's message to Kaitlyn,

three times we find the word empty,

three days later we learn the rest of the story.

How many times does a kindness come along just at the right time,

when, like Scott, we're feeling 

defeated, 

tired 

and ashamed 

when we're starting to feel a little empty even?

And then, more than a coincidence, a miracle God wink.

Putting people in the right place at the right time.

Using them Allowing them to be His hands and feet.

Encouraging them to speak His kind.

Scott has promised to pay it forward and we can't wait to hear how.

Speaking of speaking your kind mind, my post with tips 

for tackling those tough conversations with students is now live.

Click this image to read the post.

I love this info-graphic that they made with my suggestions. 

Today's guest post is bittersweet because, after three years of writing for Free Spirit, I've decided to pass the baton to another counselor so that their readers can 

hear another voice,

share another heartbeat, 

reflect on another journey 

gain insight from another perspective

grab new ideas from another caring climate

and grow alongside another practitioner in the field.

I say farewell to Free Spirit with gratitude for the opportunity

and with the invitation to stop by any time as their guest author.

And are you ready for the big news of the day? Amanda Symmes, school adjustment counselor and a new cyberspace collaborator and friend of mine, is going to be taking my place. You might remember Amanda from her poignant piece about Holding Backpacks, shared at the Corner earlier this semester. 

Congrats, Amanda; I'm so proud of you and 

really eager to read your reflections.

Speak your kind; you've got this!