Kindness Sets My Soul On Fire

Straight talk: Kindness sets my soul on fire.

Today I made some more holiday candy so I could continue

my crusade through the community. My favorite container

is probably the one I gave to Mr. Whitlock, to take with him

when he goes to minister to the homeless in Houston tomorrow night.

I hope they can feel my empathy for them with every bite. 

It's no secret that I get super excited when I'm invited

to talk about kindness, so it won't surprise you that

I had a blast visiting with these kindness ambassadors

in the Landolt Elementary Kindness Club recently.

My friend Rachel is one of the club's co-sponsors;

she and her friend got such an incredible membership response

that they've got a different group of thirty each semester

and some very generous parent volunteers to help them

make their weekly kindness projects come alive.

In this picture, she was reading a thank-you note that the Club got

from the Mercy Tree ministry for the homemade placemats

that they gave to the homeless for their Thanksgiving feast.

I took Winthrop along, and he was out of sorts about something,

squawking and carrying on, so first I asked the kids if they speak bird, and then, if not, how they might figure out how he's feeling.

Such a powerful exercise to elevate empathy, trying to imagine

what the bird is feeling, without knowing any back-story details

and without the ability to speak its language.

But get this: The kids always get it right.

They always figure out how he's feeling

and they usually make a pretty legit attempt

at figuring out what might have happened as well as

what they could do to help him regulate and make him feel better.

We then read Kiki's Hats by Warren Hanson, 

the story of a knitter who makes hats to share,

after which we talked about how they knit kindness.

Yesterday, Rachel texted me this beautiful picture, 

enthusiastically adding that their Drink Cart idea was a huge hit. 

Can you imagine being a teacher in this school family

and being served an afternoon beverage by these kind kids?

Talk about refreshing!

And those inspiring smiles?

Clearly kindness sets their souls on fire, too.

And check this out; their Club made headline news!

Next semester, I'm going to share this book with them.

Click the image for a review 

I'm so grateful that the virtues of 

empathy,

compassion, 

and kindness 

are making such great headway.

What sets your soul on fire?