100 Acts of Kindness

Months ago, in the summertime, our ward got a new bishop.  One of the first things he did was to offer us as members of the ward, a challenge.  He challenged each member to do 100 acts of kindness for our neighbors (those we know and those we don't) before the end of the year.  Our family decided to accept this challenge and just last week, finished.  It was a great experience.  It wasn't easy, considering that many of our younger children needed help with many of their acts of service. 

The members of our ward have always been amazing at helping and serving others.  We have been the recipients of selfless service many times.  But this challenge helped us all see service and kindness a little differently.  I think we all put more of a priority on it.  We noticed more often, little things that we could do to help.  We noticed the little things that others were doing as well.  As a mother, I think I was more aware of opportunities for my children to serve, and then I encouraged and supported them in their efforts to serve.  Our family and our ward and our whole community have been blessed by the efforts put forth by everyone.  I thought about our experience as I watched the Christmas Devotional last week.  The message given by President Monson was the perfect "icing on the cake" to our last few months of service. 

Here is a small excerpt from his talk:

"Our celebration of Christmas should be a reflection of the love and selflessness taught by the Savior. Giving, not getting, brings to full bloom the Christmas spirit. We feel more kindly one to another. We reach out in love to help those less fortunate. Our hearts are softened. Enemies are forgiven, friends remembered, and God obeyed. The spirit of Christmas illuminates the picture window of the soul, and we look out upon the world’s busy life and become more interested in people than in things. To catch the real meaning of the spirit of Christmas, we need only drop the last syllable, and it becomes the Spirit of Christ.

Said President David O. McKay: “True happiness comes only by making others happy—the practical application of the Savior’s doctrine of losing one’s life to gain it. In short, the Christmas spirit is the Christ spirit, that makes our hearts glow in brotherly love and friendship and prompts us to kind deeds of service."

That Christ spirit can be with us all year long.  Serving together with our children brings our families closer together.  Serving brings the spirit into our hearts and homes.  Serving shows our love of the Lord.  Serving blesses all those around us.  Serving others is following the Savior's example.