4 not-so-Random Acts of Kindness

A few months ago, I read this blog where this woman had an incredible idea...she used her 38th birthday to do 38 random acts of kindness! I've always been one for random acts of kindness and try to look for ways every day to brighten someone else's day and show them some love.  This just gives me a really good excuse to go out of my way to make it happen repeatedly in one day.  It also helps me get the creative juices flowing and new ideas pop out to me all the time now!  So I immediately decided to do it for my next bday (#28!).

Then I got to thinking...I try to include the kids in my every day activities. Whether it's just telling someone to have a nice day or stopping to give a meal to someone in need (although sometimes Mason questions why I'm giving away his food...), I try to show them on a regular basis that we do nice things for others to show God's love for them.  So why not have them do these acts of kindness on their birthday too and reinforce those ideas?! I can see no good reason why not...and so, a new Schafers family tradition is born!  And Mason got to be the first one to have this great day!

I started planting ideas in his head a few weeks ago about what he might like to do.  I gave him several options and let him tell me which ones sounded the best to him.  Here's how his birthday played out:

#1 - Our first stop was at Wesley Hospital. Mason's first "act of kindness" was to take a bag of clothes for the kids who are in the hospital.  He was so excited to give something to kids who were sick and told me he hoped it made them smile. He told me later when I asked that this was his favorite part of the day because he liked helping the sick kids feel better.  (Can I get an "awwww"?)  :)

#2 - Our next destination was His Helping Hands.  Before we left the house this morning, Mason picked out 4 toys to donate.  Since he was kind of shy when we gave the clothes to Ms. Melissa at the hospital, I told him in the van that he needed to help explain at this next stop. He told me he was really excited to give his toys to kids that didn't have any and that he would take care of it all...and boy, he did!  He carried the bag into the donation room and, after I flagged down the lead volunteer, Mason pulled out each toy and explained what it did and why the kids would like it.  He was super giggly and excited as we left there.  I've never seen such a big grin on this kid!

#3 - Next, we headed back to Mulvane.  I had given Mason the option of baking cookies for someone for one of his acts.  He said he wanted to make cookies for our pastor.  So we had baked chocolate chip cookies and Mason was my big helper and was really excited to deliver them.

#4 - Our final act was, of course, at Target.  Mason finally got to "work" there :) His kind act there was to push people's carts back inside the store.  Right as we were getting out of the van, a mom and her 5 kids came out of the store, so we headed their direction.  I explained what we were doing and asked if Mason could take their cart back into the store for them.  The mom was great - she made a big deal about his birthday and how nice it was to help others and we had a good chat and she said she might have her kids start doing something like that too.  The kids all wished Mason a happy birthday and we took off with their cart.  Right when we got it inside, it started to sprinkle on us.  So, instead of waiting on other people to come out of the store, we went ahead and just rounded up some loose carts in the parking lot and parked them in the cart stalls. 

After he was done with his final deed, he got to go inside the store and buy a toy and a movie with his Target gift card that he got for his birthday, which was another fun adventure :)

We had some leftover balloons & helium from his party on Saturday, so he wanted to blow those up and give them away somewhere.  We ended up taking them to daycare when I dropped him off for the afternoon and he had a great time sharing them with all of his friends! 

All in all, a successful day!  I was so proud of Mason and his willingness to serve this morning. I honestly didn't know how he would react...or really if he would go along with this at all.  But he made me so incredibly proud when he jumped in and was willing to give up clothes, toys, cookies, and put in some work to show love to others.  I can't wait to spend more of these kinds of days with him and Madison and to instill in them how important it is to care for others.  And how great to use your birthday to remember that...when we could make it all about ourselves...to have a constant reminder that we're here for a bigger reason, part of a bigger plan...here for His glory and to show His love and mercy to others.

Happy birthday to my sweet boy!  I couldn't be happier to be your mommy!

A timely lesson...

I love knowing that God is who I get my sense of humor from J  He seems to like to make His points to me in the weirdest times and situations, when I least expect it.  It often takes me off guard and makes me giggle….like, “Really, God? Now, of all times, you want to tell me something deep and challenge my heart?”  Oh well…I guess it works at grabbing my attention! ;)
The latest example was on our trip to Alaska.  While we were there, I was absolutely enamored with the scenery.  It’s BEAUTIFUL there.  I felt like I was in Colorado on steroids. The mountains, the trees, the animals, the rivers, the waterfalls, the lakes, the glaciers: it’s all gorgeous.  We were bused a few times a day to different locations: dinner, activities, tours, and into town for a visit; lots of time to admire God’s handiwork. 

While we were on the way to our ATV tour on Friday morning, I was staring out the window.  I was super excited to go on this excursion and knew that we’d have lots of fun riding fast through the woods, exploring and getting dirty.  Randal and I were both pretty pumped and I was daydreaming about the fun we were about to have.  I was just thinking and admiring one of the mountains in the distance when God decided it was time for a learning opportunity… 

As I was sitting on the bus, amazed at this massive piece of earth and how beautiful it was, I got to thinking about why it was so magnificent.  Every inch of it; every tree, every flake of snow, every peak, and every crevice - it was perfect…just the way it was supposed to be and every seemingly insignificant detail of it made it amazingly beautiful as a whole. 

That’s when God hit me with a big question:  Why is it so easy to see that in the mountains in the distance but not in the person in the mirror? 

Every freckle, every hair, even every stretch mark is just as it should be…and I am beautiful because of all of those little things.  It’s easy to forget.  I look at this mug in the mirror all the time.  It’s easy to see the flaws in myself…to compare myself to other women and come up short. 

I am just as I should be…the same care that God spent making the scenery in Alaska, He spent on making me.  He put every tree in its place…he put every freckle and every hair in its place…just where they needed to be - just where He wanted them, and I can’t argue with that.  It is the little things about me that I need to remember to appreciate and be thankful for. 

It’s so easy to forget…to get tangled up in the bad feelings we often feel towards our reflections and the things we see every day.  But thinking about how much thought and care was put into making that girl looking back at me has me thinking a little differently today…taking less for granted.

And not just the physical: I tend to forget what a treasure the little pieces of my personality are.  Sometimes I start to think that these things are my downfall, even that they annoy others. My thankfulness for my spunk, my humor, my instinct to give, the way I wear my heart on my sleeve...it’s been renewed and I'm excited again about who I am and how He made me.

I’m so thankful for God’s tugs at my heart…even if they are at funny times J

Catching up...

It's been a while, so here I am, just catching up! 

Recent Happenings:

Randal and I dressed up for "Senior Prom" with the youth group.  He makes a pretty Bea Arthur and I am a killer mall walker. We're going to be awesome when we're old.

Madison got to go dress shopping for her flower girl dress for Kayla's wedding.  She stole Aunt Na's nose in the process.

Daddy went to camp at the lake.  We had fun just the three of us!

Daddy ran the Warrior Dash in OK with some incredible friends from church.  He did awesome & made Cobra Kai proud!

After the Warrior Dash, I got to see some of my long-lost cousins from OK!  What a sweet visit!

  

Occasions:

This was my Mother's Day treat - cupcakes at the lake!

We took daddy to Kobe Steakhouse for Father's day.  It was the kids' first Hibachi experience and they had lots of fun!

This is how they spent their afternoon on Father's Day.

Some funny stuff: 

Mason has decided to be stubborn about eating his dinner.  This is what sheer determination looks like.

Madison likes to dress in character with daddy's Warrior Dash hat when we watch How To Train Your Dragon.

Mason has new Superman pjs.  I asked to see his cape and got a butt-shot instead!

We're excited for summer!  Lots more fun to come!!!

Picture = 1000 words... Messed up Picture = Silence

Hello,

This is Randal.  It has been many days since our last correspondence.  So I thought I would entertain you with a story.  Now before I begin, this post/story has no significant weight, meaning I am not trying to end world hunger, or make the reader think "How would my life be better if I only did...".  So if you are wanting to be pushed to your mental and spiritual limit, stop reading now.

Growing up in a small town outside of the metropolis of Wichita, my family owned a small plot of land.  My mother was always camera crazy, and wanted to get pictures and document everything.  This was before the time of digital cameras, and phones with cameras.  Video cameras were the size of a microwave or a crock pot.  And cameras used something called film, it was not all stored on a card the size of dime.  As children we had our pictures taken quite a bit during, holidays, vacations, music concerts, and anytime anyone from any town came to see us.

Our story begins the summer before my senior year of high school.  My parents decided to take us all as a family on a trip across the south western part of what is now known as the "Lower 48 States".  This trip would take up 2 weeks driving from Goddard, KS to Long Beach, CA and back.  We had many interesting stops, and my parents got upset with me just sleeping in the back of the Purple Dodge Caravan several times.  But I got car sick, and playing the Nintendo 64 only made it worse. One stop was quite interesting though, less then a few days into the trip we were outside of Las Vegas and decided to take a tour of the Hoover Dam.  While on the tour the family and I were walking through a tunnel, when we heard a thud echo through the darkness we were crawling through.  Now differing stories have surfaced since this event, one was that my mom was pushed, another in the darkness she wanted to get a picture of the 3 of us boys walking towards the light.  What ever happened, my mom dropped the camera.  Quickly she picked it up in hopes that no one heard what happened, but we did.  Once we resurfaced to daylight my dad, John Schafers, examined the camera and the damage.  With the sun light he looked like a young Russel Crowe in a Beautiful Mind, looking for clues... looking at the scratches to the camera.  Upon his review he informed us all that the camera looked fine, and that we lucked out.  We continued the trip and made it all the way back to Kansas, and mother made a special trip to take her 1450 rolls if film to SAM's Club to have them developed.  A week went by, and my parents took out a second mortgage on the house just to pay for the film to be developed.  We had the pictures... from this point on each of us boys remembers different things happening.  It was all a blur, it happened so fast our only reaction was to not move.  Like a T Rex we believed, not moving would make us invisible.  As mom started looking though the pictures she came to the  Hoover portion of the trip.  She fell to her knees, as if she just heard that Barry Manilow was really a woman and lip synced every song!  When the camera dropped in that tunnel it shifted the lens, making only half of each picture clear and the other half so blurry you would think you had a stroke.  I am not sure how my mom got to her bedroom, maybe dad carried her Bodyguard style, but somehow she was in her room, and all we could hear was the pain of a broken woman.  She did not leave that room for close to a week, she wouldn't sleep, she wouldn't eat.  Eventually she came out, and went through the 1.6 million pictures that were taken and weeded out the ones that were total trash.

Now we fast forward 13 years, not to the day.  I am married, and the father of two kids. Mason, a 3 year old curious about the world and not afraid to ask the question "Why?", and Madison a 2 year old that has the confidence to not take no for an answer and not willing to back down from anything!  They were both taking a bath in my bath tub. playing, having a glorious time.  I walked out of the room for no more than 30 seconds, when I hear them both say Oops.  When I rushed back into the room I found young Madison flooding the bathroom by pushing the spout out over the floor.  There was close to an inch of water covering the floor, and I went into FEMA rescue mode... grabbing clothes, and towels to mop up this man made lake in my bathroom.  I eventually get the disaster contained and cleaned up, thinking I adverted a horrible disaster.  When I told Beth about the incident she vowed that they will only be able to take baths in the kitchen sink from now until they are 25!  Weeks go by and the topic was not brought up again, until last Saturday.  I heard the horrific scream before I felt the house shake.  Beth came racing up the stairs, a color I have never seen her before, holding several large white envelopes.  There was a faint smell in the air, similar to clothes that have been left in a washer for 2 days longer then mold grows.  I could tell from the scream and noises coming from Beth's mouth what was wrong.  I had heard it before, on that calm  warm summer afternoon so many years before.  There were pictures in the envelopes, and not just any pictures but ALL of the professional photos taken of the kids from almost birth.  As we slowly opened the encasement, scared of what we might find in side, we found still damp photos.  the colors had not run or faded, but they were now waving and wrinkly like the color of an old white undershirt.  The pictures were stuck together, they had melded into a super thick poster of a photo.  Beth's reaction was different from what I had experienced before.  She turned a greenish color like the Incredible Hulk, and started to flip over the tables and rip the counter tops off and throw them at the refrigerator.  I scooped up the kids and we found shelter under a bar stool that was out of Beth's reach.  She tore through our house like a loose elk running from a lynx in a chandelier shop, leaving a path of destruction.  But like all tornadoes, she subsided and we went back to work trying to unpry a picture of Mason's face from Madison's foot.  We must have sat at that table for what felt like 5 minutes, time went by so slow!  Eventually everyone was calm, and we decided to try unorthodox methods, like freezing the pictures, treating pictures like a wishbone at thanksgiving, and even trying to re stage the pictures in our living room. I don't know how this story will end, but I do know we saved a lot of good pictures that day.  And luckily when we bought the pictures I followed my moms example and we had 399 pictures of each pose!


This short story was brought to you by http://www.carbonite.com/en/

Open Letter Series - Part Seven: To My Siblings

Even though you tortured me, told me I was unwanted, and gave me ridiculous nicknames, I still love you. I hope that even though I tortured you and drove you mad, you still love me too :)

Kelli:

I couldn’t ask for a better big sister.  Although we’ve had our ups and downs (you called me Pepper, I stole your Dean Cain pictures and cut the hair on your Barbie), you’ve always been there for me.  It’s hard being 5 years apart -we’ve always been in completely different stages in our lives.  But I love seeing how our sisterhood has crossed over that gap. We’ve been there to support one another in our triumphs, catch each other when we fall, and hold each other in our heartache. 

Your friendship has meant the world to me.  You didn’t have to be the sister you are.  There was enough of a gap that you could have left home and just let me be.  You didn’t have to let your nerdy sister hang out with you and your college friends, but you did.  You didn’t have to come home for games and activities, but you did.  You didn’t have to be one of my biggest cheerleaders, but you were.  Now, you get to see me every work day and I love that! 

You also brought a great man into the family and I’m so thankful for him.  Ryan treats you like you deserve to be treated. He loves you like you deserve to be loved and I can’t say how much that means to this little sister of yours.

My sister makes awesome paper hats...

Marc: 

What a fabulous big brother you turned out to be! I had my doubts at times…you wouldn’t let me play with your Legos or follow you and your friends around and let’s be honest; we both made some stupid decisions and made the other one suffer quite often.  But you, my dearest brother, have continued to impress me as you’ve grown up. 

What a mature Dr.-man you’ve turned into!  I can always count on you for a good laugh and for good, honest advice.  Although we don’t hang out nearly enough, I love our times together. You’re the thoughtful, fun brother that every girl wants. You’re a hard worker that follows his dreams and we’re all so proud of you for that.  You’re a wonderful man that I’m proud to call my brother!

Also, I'm glad you didn't make it all the way to Africa on your bike that day!

My brother is a smarty pants...And he makes cool t-shirts

I’ve loved watching both of you grow in your faith and shape into the people you are today.  We’ve all helped each other get where we are and I love having you two not only as my siblings, but my friends.

Bonus-you’re a fabulous aunt & uncle to that niece & nephew of yours! You pick out the cutest outfits, you take them out for fun dates, but most of all,you love being around them and make a point to be present.  Thank you for playing such a big part in their lives and mine :)

Cool dude.

Love you both!
Beth