Simple Words: Many Hearts #ActsofKindness

Greetings blog family! Have you ever found a great amount of energy from just a few simple words from another? Acts of kindness have been extremely important to my family lately. Recently my husband accepted a position as a youth director in North Carolina. We both grew up in, studied in, and started our family in Minnesota. Our daughter “E” is now 2.5 years old and has assumed the position of household director/performer. You can imagine the level of adjustment this transition was. Even before we moved our family across the country we had messages of love and support from people we had never met.

One act of kindness that sticks with me in particular was an email from a staff member at the new church that had the exact words I needed to hear: “…I was thinking about how you are leaving a strong community and wanted you to know we can’t wait to welcome you to this one…”

These words gave me enough support to trust our big move and take a leap that felt risky and overwhelming at best.

It’s incredible what our words can do for others. Since becoming a mother I have become even more aware of how much my words impact others and I so badly want my daughter to not only feel that impact but to learn how to make that impact on others as well. Moving across the country challenged me in ways I didn’t know I could be challenged. I realized about two weeks after moving I needed to do something physically different in order to find my inner balance or some type of peace amidst so much unfamiliar territory.

I’m not extremely athletic but I am always willing to try something new. I have a close friend and mentor who claims that she cannot function well without some daily yoga. You guessed it; I became a yoga mommy. My most recent instructor said something in class that keeps me going with the practice: “you have taken care of others, now you are taking care of you…do not conform your body to the position, conform the position to your body and your needs.” Isn’t that true? We spend a lot of time concerned about making sure everything is in place for those around us, but are we taking time for ourselves as well? I don’t do so well providing for others when my gas tank is running on

empty.

Just as E has begun to imitate my words she has also picked up on the yoga. My highlight from this last month was one day while I was running around the house E said to me: “Mommy, lets do some yoga!” She pronounces it “noga.” My choice to try something new to relax was for my sanity and it turned into a bonding and relaxation activity for E and myself. Maybe today you are feeling as exhausted or discouraged as I was a few months ago. Today, if you remember anything about who you are as a mother, know that you are just what your children need. Have you been kind to yourself

in order to be kind to others? I often find that when I make time to take care of my body I find it easier to be intentionally kind to others even with a simple smile at the grocery store.

“Whatever you believe about yourself on the

inside is what you’ll manifest on the outside.”

Gabbie