18 Random Acts of Kindness: RAOK 5 - 11

Hey, Y'all!

So in the last post I told you about my first 4 Random Acts of Kindness (RAOK) and now I'll hopefully get through a few more. I am sad to say that this one doesn't include pictures because this part of my day consisted mainly of handing things out to strangers or dropping off items for people to find later. My face-to-face encouters are coming soon!
I have to admit that I had 18 not so random RAOK planned for my day, but I was also praying that God would open up other opportunities for me to serve others. He did end up changing a few of my plans and adding to my day in some great ways. This change made the day more special. So let's get to it. . . .

RAOK 5. Stand an hour for "Stand for Freedom"

Yes, it isn't technically random, but it was an awesome opportunity because I got to participate in my universities Stand for Freedom. My roommate and I signed up to stand during the same time slot and I am so glad that we got to experience this together.
Stand for Freedom is an event that was created by the International Justice Mission to raise awareness for human trafficking and slavery around the world. The event lasts 27 hours to represent the 27 million slaves around the globe. You can learn more about Stand for Freedom and IJM here.

When we arrived to stand for our time slot we met the delightful outgoing young woman who was responsible for putting the event together for our campus. I immediately knew that she has an extremely passionate heart for others. Her drive helped keep us motivated to make a difference.
The most amazing part was that I found out that March 6 is her birthday, also. I was amazed to realize that she had given her entire day and the day priot to her birthday to help organize this event, set up, and keep everyone motivated amidst her class schedule. That is someone with a beautiful self-less heart of gold. I was so amazed that she was also sharing her day in service with others.
Maybe March 6 babies are typically a little more outgoing and adventurous? Ha!
After being so pleasantly suprised to learn that this day was also her birthday, I decided that she should be the recipient of one of my tastier RAOK. This leads me to. . . .

RAOK 6. Give away a giant chocolate candy bar to someone I do not know

No this isn't some grand crazy adventure (There is a big RAOK coming!), but what an awesome way to brigten someone else's day than by giving them chocolate! She was beyond excited when I gave it to her. I had no idea when I picked the candy bar out that it would used as a birthday present! Nothing says "Happy Birthday!" quite like a giant chocolate bar.

After participating in the "Stand for Freedom" I sat impatiently through my only class of the day as I waited to fullfil another RAOK off my list as soon as class was over and get right back to the deliveries.

ROAK 7. Write a card to each of my teachers

There are four teachers that I have the opportunity to be taught under every week. Due to the fact that I would not see every teacher on Wednesday I decided that I would wait to give my Tuesday/Thursday teachers their card when I went to class the next day.
After delivering the two cards from my Monday/Wednesday classes I got right back to my busy deliveries. I made a quick trip to the post office to deliver a few more cards that I had written. (Yeah, you read right. I also mailed or hand-delivered 3 additional cards on top of all the other cards I wrote. Bringing my grand total to 38 hand-written cards.) So we have. . . .

RAOK 8. Write a card to a person on my campus who has made an impact in my life

The person I chose is someone who just recently became a big supporter and encourager of mine. A few weeks ago I entered her office as a stranger and came out as a friend. The timing couldn't have been more perfect because I was facing some serious doubts about my future and my life here and she helped make everything better. She helped me realize that the things going on in my life are a blessing and not a burden. I am beyond thankful that I have had her influence in my life for this time.

RAOK 9. Mail an encouraging card to a random box number

This one sounds a bit crazy, but it has always been a dream of mine to mail a stranger a letter or a card. When I was little I used to imagine what it would be like to throw a message in a bottle into the sea and hope that one day someone found it. This was an awesome opportunity to do this on a smaller scale- minus the sea and the bottle. I wrote a few of my favorite encouraging verses on the card explained why I was mailing the card, dated it, and chose a random box number in the campus mail room to send it to. I hope someone actually uses that mailbox. . and that they check it someday soon. This one will always be an unfinished story for me, but it was totally worth it.

RAOK 10. Write a card for a faculty member who has helped make a difference in your life

I chose someone who has been a key influence in my life on this campus since the day I signed up for housing. She has helped make sure that my transition to this school was an easy one and that my life here would flourish. I couldn't be more thankful for her help and for listening to my story and my many questions about campus life.
I delivered her card to her office and decided that I would also give part of another RAOK to the woman sitting at the secretary's desk. AKA. . . .

RAOK 11. Hand out fruity mentos to strangers

I bought a 6-roll pack of fruity mentos to hand out as a simple surprise to give to people I encountered throughout my day.I even wrote a catchy little saying, "I think I was 'mento' give you this" on the card attached. (Totally cheesy, but adorable, right?)
(Roll 1) It was rather hilarious as I tried to explain to the woman sitting at the desk what I was doing for my birthday and why I was handing her a roll of mentos. The poor woman looked like I had handed her a loaded weapon. I attempted to explain what I was doing again and her expression didn't change.
I honeslty felt bad for the random people I spoke to that daybecause I knew that I was going to talk to strangers, but they had just come to work or school looking to get through the day. I probably would have had a similar response if I were them. Then again, sometimes when a person hands you candy you shouldn't question it. (DISLAIMER: Yes, there are times that you should think before eating candy. Please do not go out and eat sketchy candy someone hands you just because I said to!)
Some people don't understand the power of those little fruity candies. Those things can change your life. . .or at least keep your sugar up before lunch.

(R 2) While dropping of one of my teacher cards I walked past a faculty member that I have briefly met and I decided to give him a roll of mentos as a little surprise. Thankfully, he had a better response and was genuinly intrigued by what I was doing with my day.

(R 3) I delivered a roll to the admission's dept. secretary to say thank you for everything she does and all the questions and phone calls she handles. I got a similar loaded weapon look from her before she smiled and realized that I'm harmless. (I am mostly harmless. Mostly.)

(R 4) I gave a roll to one of the female dorm Resident Directors because she has always been such a kind person and I don't think I've ever seen her be rude. She genuinly cares about the girls on her staff and the students in her building. She has a really kind heart.

(R 5) I placed this roll on a fellow classmates desk while she was messing with her backpack. This is the second semester in a row that we have had a class together, but we have never spoken to each other. Her face was priceless when she looked at the top of her desk and saw it sitting there.

(R 6) I gave the final roll to a friend that I passed on the quad. She walked into my life last semester and has kept me smiling since that day. We will only be on this campus together a few more months, but she will be my friend for life no matter where we live.

Well, there are a few more marked off the countdown! 11 down and 7 to go! Some of the best stories are to come!

Brooke

18 Random Acts of Kindness: RAOK 1 - 4

Hey, Y'all!

So last Wednesday was unbelievably awesome! By the end of the day I was exhausted and more than ready for some rest. My day was slammed full with Random Acts of Kindness (RAOK) and it was an amazing experience. I'm going to start updating about what my day was like, but I want to keep the posts short so I am only going to post a few of them at a time. 18 RAOK is quite a lot to write and read about.

Let's start at the beginning. . .
At 12:00 am (the official start to my birthday) I started distributing the cards that I wrote for the people that live in my dorm building.

ROAK 1. Write a thank you card to every Resident Assistant and my Resident Director in my dorm building.

ROAK 2. Write an encouraging card to every girl that lives on the half of the hall I live on.

That's 31 cards in all. Yes, when I finished my hand was blistered and my brain lacked words, but it was a challenge that I needed. I thought- other than a hand cramp or two- I would be able to do this without any trouble.
I sat down at my desk with 3 different kinds of cards, some envelopes, and a pen. It wasn't until I started writing the cards out that I finally realized what a challenge this would be. There are some young ladies I have only shared a smile and a quick exchange in passing or I have never met them at all.
Its a challenge to write to people you barely know. I was tempted to fall into the usual impersonal cheery "Go You!" attitude that most of us get when we are told to interact with strangers. I tried my hardest to refrain from this because this was not what I had set out to do. I wanted to encourage these ladies with real words- not hand them a fortune cookie that says, "Live life. You will do great things."
I set out to encourage some pretty amazing ladies that live near me and that was exactly what I was going to do. So I wrote what came to my mind and my heart. If one of these young ladies has a beautiful smile that never fails to encourage me or a sunny personality then I put that in the card. It was a challenge, but in the end I realize that there are some ladies that I should make a bigger effort to get to know and encourage in person every day not just this one day.
With all 31 cards in hand, my roommate and I set out to deliver each and every one of them. This was a lot fun because my roommate was also studying for a test so we reviewed her note cards with every card we dropped off. It was hilarious.
Here are some pictures of the cards in the hallway:

 

I have heard a few of the stories from the young ladies who received a card from me. As a matter of fact, one young lady ended up finding my card at an exact moment when she needed some real encouragement. I was so overwhelmed to hear these stories because it was a wonderful reminder to me that this was exactly what God was leading me to do. This was beyond worth the hand cramps and the blisters.

I crossed two more RAOK off my list that night also.

ROAK 3. Place change on the drink machines in my building.

I got the idea off The Birthday Project's website. You place change in an envelope on a drink or snack machine. Our building has 2 main machines so I split the money. I attached a card that I put with every RAOK that explains why I did this. (These cards were purchased from The Birthday Project.)

 

 

RAOK 4. Slip a surprise with an encouraging note under a stranger's door.

My sister is selling bracelets to raise money for her summer mission's trip and half the money goes to those who have been saved from human trafficking in the Philippines. I bought two and decided that I would surprise 2 fellow freshman ladies that live in the other female freshmen dorm building. I chose a random dorm room and stuck it on their door. To my surprise, I had actually chosen a freshmen that I had a class with last semester and her roommate that I recently met in an interview group. Oh well, I guess it wasn't quite that random after all. Ha!

And that is the first hour and 4 RAOK on my journey. It was just the start of a beautiful day!

Brooke

The Pre Birthday Post

Welcome to my blog, Y'all!

This is something that I have been wanting to start for a while, but I just haven't had the motivation or time lately, but tomorrow's big event finally gave me the push I needed.

Tomorrow (Which is less than an hour away. . ) is my 18th Birthday (Yeah, I'm a baby, I know. Such a young college freshie.) and I am celebrating my birthday by doing something I absolutely love: Serving others. Growing up, service was something I did rather often. I LOVE serving others. It helps define who I am. My two favorite things in the whole wide world are serving others and spending quality time with people. When you put those two together I get beyond excited.
I found out about this great organization called The Birthday Project and I absolutely fell in love with the idea. The moment I knew that this was what I was supposed to do for my birthday was when I noticed their logo has dandelions on it. I have a really odd love for dandelions.
So the big birthday plan is to do 18 Random Acts of Kindness on my college campus. I set it specifically to my campus because- in my opinion- it is easier to serve those I do not know and hard to serve those I live with. I want to give back to my beautiful campus and the people around me. This is probably going to be one of the most exciting and scariest things I will ever do. I am thrilled and shaking in my silver generic-brand Toms all at the same time.

Here is the challenge:

18 Random Acts of Kindness.
My college campus.
24 hours. (Not counting the 1 class period I have tomorrow plus the WPE)
a budget of $50.00

Sounds awesome, right? You would just LOVE to participate, too, right? Well, here is my challenge to you:

1 random act of kindness
Your "campus" (home, work, church, school, or other place you spend quite a bit of time tomorrow.)
24 hours.
Your *budget: FREE - 1,000,000,000,000,000.00
*I'm doing plenty of free stuff so don't think you can't participate because you don't have money.

The reason I am doing this? Because God has given me such an awesome life and He has blessed me with another year to continue striving after His purpose. This is one day to give back to others as Christ gave to us.

After writing what feels like writing a million cards and taping, folding, and cutting a billion things I am finally ready. Everything is by the door or about to get packed up into my backpack. This is gonna be awesome and scary. I will try to update on every RAOK I do and how my challenge goes. Its gonna be a busy rest of the week so it may take me a while to update everything.

**If you participate by doing a RAOK I would love to hear about it! Email me at babblingbr@gmail.com.
***Also, if you are one fantastic recipient of one of my RAOK or just found out about it from a friend, email me also! I would love to hear from you!

Say a prayer for me and I'll say a prayer for you! Let's do this!
Brooke