Week 20 - Share a Smile...Success!

For this week, I planned that Saturday I would smile at each person I could make eye contact with...

This was more difficult that I had anticipated! Very few people made eye contact with me.

Our morning began at several stores, so the sales people were easy - they would greet us the moment we walked in the door. It was the other customers shopping that I knew would be a challenge.

I found that the older the person, the more likely they were to look at the people passing by. I was able to catch their eye and smile at them. The younger people were very good at averting their eyes from me so that they could stay ensconced in their own little world.

One woman even did a double take when I smiled at her, at first a little confused that a stranger would look at her and smile.

In the evening, we went to a local street festival. Although there were hundreds of people standing in the streets, listening to music, I was not able to make eye contact with any of them. Each person was wrapped up in the people around them or in enjoying the atmosphere, not paying attention to others around them. And those who were walking down the street were purposefully watching their step or looking away from the faces of people facing them.

Sharing a smile was interesting, and I hope that those who I were able to share a smile with were touched. I will definitely do this one again!

Week 19 - Stamp Out Food...Success!

So last week was Week 19, and we participated in the national food drive "Stamp Out Hunger" that is spearheaded by the US Post Office. This is a really cool idea, and the boys got a kick out of putting food into our mailbox instead of letters.

We stuffed our mailbox on Saturday with oyster crackers, elbow, pasta, chocolate pudding, and two packages of wild berry muffin mix - some of our family's staple food items. 

To learn more about "Stamp Out Hunger" - be sure to visit their Facebook page. I was surprised that this was their 20th year of doing it. They are still collecting totals, but the numbers that individual areas are reporting are pretty impressive!

Week 17 and 18 - Shower Someone

The idea for this one was not my own. I had seen it pinned on Pinterest several months ago and repinned it for when we could use it.

These are Blessings Bags (see the original idea here), bags to give to the homeless.

Last week was our first St. Louis Cardinals game for the season, and we parked in our usual spot, walking our usual route down the street to Busch Stadium.

And, we saw the usual people: Cardinals fans, street vendors, and a couple homeless people begging for change.

It didn't sink in until after the game as to what we needed to do. I remembered my Pinterest pin from this winter, and our plan was hatched.

We had been given tickets to another game this week, so the boys and I headed to WalMart to pick up the items to be put into our Blessings Bag. Here is what we decided on:

• toothbrush
• toothpaste
• mouth wash
• comb
• Clorox wipes
• baby wipes
• Tylenol
• first aid kit
• tissues
• bar soap
• shampoo
• deodorant
• lotion
• germ-x
• chapstick
• gum
• granola bar
• crackers with peanut butter

I then slipped all the items neatly into a one gallon ziploc bag and added a Bible verse in the front. We made two of these bags, as we had seen two homeless men on our last walk to the stadium.

So last night was the game. I carried the bags in my tote, and Noah had an eye out for a homeless person to bless. And, we didn't see a single person to give the bags to. We were a little disappointed.

Plan B: pass the bags to our neighbors who are going to the baseball game tonight!