It's Here!

The book that inspired this blog...the novel that tells the story of one woman moving toward healing by fighting through the pain to share small acts of kindness with others...

My author copy of Stepping Into Sunlight arrived in the mail!

It's shiny, smells of fresh ink, and is such a miracle. When I think of the two years of heart, soul, and labor that went into this - not just from myself, but from editors, test readers, designers, type-setters, artists, marketing folk, critique buddies - I'm overwhelmed with gratitude.

Here's a "kindness idea" as I celebrate this arrival...

Think of a friend who could use a reminder that they are not forgotten - that you care about them, and God does, too. Order a copy of Stepping Into Sunlight, and give it to them.

It's not a "how to" book. It's not full of suggestions or advice. It's just a story.

Sometimes a story is exactly what we need.

Blessings!
Sharon Hinck

One Minute Video

For those of you who want a glimpse of the upcoming Stepping Into Sunlight novel (which inspired "Penny's Project"), you can view this brief book trailer. Enjoy!

I'm Praying For You

Sometimes we use the words as a fall-back when we feel helpless . . . as a last resort way to offer comfort. But it can be a powerful act of kindness, especially if we follow through.

"I'm praying for you."

Recently, I blogged about a woman who emailed out of the blue to tell me that God has suddenly placed me on her heart and she was praying for me, although she didn't know why. I suspect she worried she would sound a bit silly - especially if there were no special needs in my life.

But what she didn't realize at the time was that she emailed me on a very crucial morning. You can read the whole story here.

Have you ever been praying and felt the Holy Spirit bring a specific person to mind with special emphasis? Have you called or emailed to tell that friend, "I'm praying for you."?

Let's add that idea to our arsenal of kind acts.

We can wait for someone to share a problem and then offer to pray.

But we can ALSO actively ask God to bring to mind someone He wants us to support through our prayers. With or without their knowing, we can do kingdom work through that kind act.

Please share your comments about times when the prayers of others supported you, or ways that you've prayed for friends!

Blessings,
Sharon

How Can I Help?

What precious words!

Lately I've had the gift of that question offered to me by several friends.

I was talking about some discouragement . . . okay, I'll be honest, more of a feeling of hopelessness about some things that matter deeply to me.

Several friends, via email, phone, or in person, listened, cared, and said those precious words. How can I help?

Today, when someone across from us is angry, hurt, hopeless, or weary, let's offer a shoulder, a hand, a hug. And before giving suggestions, let's first meet their eyes and ask, "How can I help?"

Sometimes a person is too lost in the dark valley to KNOW what to ask for, or what they need. They may not be able to answer that question. Then we can get creative and offer a few ideas.

Sixteen years ago, I was seriously ill for several months. I was so sick that when people asked how they could help, I was too muddle-headed to think of an answer. So friends came up with their own ideas and shared love in a zillion ways.

One of the most unique was a woman from church that I didn't know too well at the time. She called up and said, "Can I please come over and clean your bathroom for you? I'm good at cleaning, and I want to help, and that's something I could do for you."

What a wonderful, specific, humble, beautiful offer!

I still remember how great it felt, after so many weeks of not being able to keep up on housework, to have a sparkling clean bathroom.

Has anyone asked you this wonderful question lately?

And have you had an opportunity to ask it of anyone?

Leave a comment and you'll be entered in my next drawing for a Penny's Project notebook (beautifully hand-crafted by a friend of mine...another of those women who ask, "How can I help?".)

Blessings!
Sharon Hinck

First Notebook Winner

I drew names from those who've commented and
Mimi is the first winner of a Penny's Project notebook (inspired by the one that Penny uses in the story Stepping Into Sunlight) where she can jot down her ideas for small steps of kindness.

Keep posting your ideas, because I'll be doing drawings for other prizes later in the month. :-)

Servanthood

Coming out of a movie theater after a family outing, my youngest daughter picked up something from the ground. I looked over, thinking she'd dropped something.

"What's that?" I asked.

She shrugged. "Something for me to throw away later."

Litter? She was picking up litter in a big old public parking lot?

When we got home, I sidled close to her and said, "Hey, thanks for doing that. But what made you think of it?"

She explained that on her recent mission trip, where she worked to clean and paint a community center, they discussed the issue of being a servant. It was easy during the parameters of the mission trip to think about giving their labor to others each day, but could be easy to forget about once they got home. My daughter didn't want to revert to the way most of us function - avoiding the dirty jobs. She wanted to bring the attitude of humble service into every day.

Cool, isn't it?

And other than this time when I caught her at it, it's the sort of quiet service that no one will ever see or praise or reward.

I once spent a week at a retreat center, and a nun who was also on the retreat wiped down the public restroom's sink and counter after getting ready in the morning. I never would have thought of doing that...leaving the space nicer than it was for the stranger who would use it next.

Can you think of other "invisible" acts of servanthood?

Remember, everyone who posts comments before August 1st will be entered in a drawing for a Penny's Project Notebook (to keep track of your small steps of kindness)

Blessings!
Sharon Hinck

Praising Someone - Behind Their Back

We all know the horrible feeling of finding out someone has said something mean about us behind our back.

But there is an equally powerful joy in learning someone shared a kind report about us to others.

I just returned from the International Christian Retail Show - an exhausting experience. One day, I got a call. A store manager had stopped by my publisher's booth and raved about my books. They told him I was at the conference, and called me to arrange for me to meet him. I was so encouraged by his enthusiasm. But it also felt amazing to think of someone "talking behind my back" in such a terrific way. He made me look good to my publishers.

In Stepping Into Sunlight, Penny tells a store manager about a clerk that has done a terrific job. The manager and clerk are both startled, but it makes the clerk's day, and raises her in the eyes of her rather cranky manager.

It's so much easier to whine and complain about people. I confess I slip into it far too often. But I've been concentrating on finding opportunities to genuinely talk up someone I like or admire behind his or her back. They may never find out, but it does raise their esteem. And if they do hear about it, it just might make their day.

Can you think of someone you could speak well of behind their back?
We've discussed the power of a kind word, but let's try the power of a covert kind word and see what happens. :-)

Feel free to share your stories here.
Everyone who comments will be entered in a drawing for a free Penny's Project Notebook.

Blessings!
Sharon Hinck

Follow-up

After posting the story about the kind clerk in the grocery store, I received this email from Judy and she gave me permission to share:

---
Last week I read your Book Buddies update and your account of the "kindness" in the grocery store. I turn off the computer and head to the grocery store to do my weekly shopping. I was looking through a display stack of tortillas, checking the expiration dates on the packages.

I pulled one off the stack, and the entire display fell and packages of tortillas splattered at my feet. Honest! This really happened!

My first impulse was to run out of the store. Then I thought of you and the Buddy update. I bent down to pick up the packages of tortillas and restack the display. Before I could pick up even one package, a clerk was bending down next to me. "That's okay," he said. "This happens all the time. I'll pick them up. You go ahead and finish your shopping."

I pushed my cart up and down the remaining aisles with a huge silly grin on my face--thinking of you. :-)
---
Thanks for sharing, Judy! Isn't it fun to notice the small kindnesses given to us each day? It gets me excited to find ways to make someone else's day.



Has someone blessed you with a gracious word, a kind gesture, a small gift? Post a comment about it between now and August 1st, and I'll draw a name to win a free Penny's Project notebook!



Sharon Hinck

One Little Kind Word

I truly spend most of my life floundering around convinced I'm not of much use to God's kingdom and wishing I could do something more to lift the load of my friends who are hurting, or to honor His name, or to meet the needs I see in the world.

Every now and again, God gives me a glimpse of a way He HAS used me when I wasn't looking.

Months ago I hosted a small gathering at my home. One of the women had shared about some discouragement, and as she left that evening, I casually said, "If you ever want to talk, feel free to call."

Simple words. Tossed out almost without thought. Certainly no great act of sacrifice or love. This was a sweet woman to whom it was easy to reach out.

But she later wrote to me and shared that the simple invitation was an answer to a long battle she had fought with feeling insignificant. She had been praying that God would do something to reassure her that she was lovable, that she was important to Him. Standing on my front porch, she felt His answer.

Wow.

I've been on the receiving end of those sorts of timely, kind words, as well.

Last winter, I was facing a scary heart catheterization procedure. The morning before heading to the hospital, I opened my emails and found one from a woman I'd met briefly several months earlier (who knew nothing about my health struggles). "I don't know why," she wrote. "and this might sound weird. But for some reason God has really impressed on me that I should pray for you. So I wanted to let you know I'm praying."

I put my head on my desk and burst into tears. Joyful tears. Without me even asking, He was nudging people to support me in prayer.

How about you? Have you ever received the gift of a kind word at a crucial time?
Or have you said something and later learned it was exactly what the other person needed?

Proverbs 25:11 says, "A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver."

Let's find some ways to share golden apples today!

Blessings!
Sharon Hinck

The History of Kindness

Long before the movie "Pay it Forward" or "Oprah's Big Give," people around the world have been excited by the idea of unexpected steps of kindness - doing something caring and loving without expecting reciprocation. Here are a few examples:

You can visit the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation here.





In 1994 Mary Colf wrote 301 Random Acts of Kindness.









In 1999, Barbara Johnson wrote a children's book called Christian Acts of Kindness.








But some of my favorite examples of the power of small acts of kindness are recorded in the New Testament Gospels.

A little boy shares a few fish and loaves of bread, and Jesus multiplies it into enough to feed thousands.

A widow gives two small coins, and Jesus says that while others coming to the temple gave large amounts, the woman's gift was precious because she gave all she had.

Even further back, in the Old Testament, another widow makes a meal from her last bits of oil and flour for a weary prophet, Elijah. And as he stayed with her and her son, day after day, God miraculously kept the oil and flour from running out.

What I love about the Biblical accounts, is that the human part of the equation is hopelessly inadequate for the need--yet God takes our small offerings and accomplishes His purposes.

Kindness isn't about celebrating human goodness, but about being a vessel that share's God's greatness.

As one of my favorite verses says, "But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us." (2 Cor. 4:7)

Have you ever done a small simple act and been surprised by the way God did something much more profound through it? Tomorrow I'll share an example from my life.

Blessings!
Sharon Hinck

Past Projects

Since childhood, I've enjoyed designing special projects like the character of Penny Sullivan did in Stepping Into Sunlight.

One year during Lent, I tried to do a secret good deed each day (it's harder than it sounds!). Another time, I set out to send a letter of gratitude to a different person each day during November (in honor of Thanksgiving).

As a wife and mom of four, I'm blessed with folks to whom it's easy to show love. But I still like the idea of challenging myself to reach out to new people in creative ways.

My local Christian radio station, KTIS, has been promoting something called "Drive Thru Difference" - where listeners are encouraged to pay for the person behind them at the drive-through as a surprise gift.

Have you ever participated in a special project like one of these in the past? What did you do? How was it received? Feel free to share ideas in the comments. And to join our Small Steps of Kindness Movement - leave a comment HERE, and I'll get you added to our list. During the month of September, we'll rock our world with small acts of love that God can multiply.

Blessings!

Sharon Hinck

Small Steps of Kindness

In the novel Stepping Into Sunlight, the character Penny Sullivan creates a plan in a little yellow notebook. She calls it "Penny's Project" and uses it to brainstorm ideas and also record small successes along the way.

As she struggles to heal from post-traumatic stress, she turns her gaze outward as much as she is able - and sets out to do a small act of kindness for a different person each day.

Some of her steps of kindness are spontaneous. When she's in a pet store and the clerk reaches out to her son, she makes a point to tell the manager how terrific the clerk was.

Others good deeds take planning - like collecting a small item for a member of her victim support group.

Some are common and familiar acts. She sends a card and note to a friend, or phones a family member to connect with them.

Others are new ventures - helping a neighbor put up a wallpaper border, or handing a Farecard to a stranger at a bus stop.

Let's begin sharing! Post kind acts you've offered, or ideas you plan to try HERE!

I'll compile comments from time to time and create a post of ideas on various themes.

Little Steps

Years ago, I lived in the Tidewater area of Virginia (where Stepping Into Sunlight, the novel, is set).

I was an exhausted grad student with a toddler and baby-on-the-way.

One day at the local grocery store, I was hurrying to grab a few things and get home in time to trade off the car with my hubby who would head off to one of his jobs (he was also in grad school). I reached for an orange, and several fell from the display, bouncing around my feet.

Embarrassed, I bent clumsily and tried to chase them down, fighting back tears because I was so exhausted, and the escaping oranges felt like the last straw.

"Ma'am, don't worry about it." A young stock-boy offered me grace with his friendly smile. "Happens all the time."

He waved me along and picked up after me. I never forgot that small act of kindness. He didn't know how tight my lungs had been feeling, how heavy my shoulders, how jangled my nerves. But he lifted my burden on a day I desperately needed it.

I realized that day that I underestimate the value of a small kind word, a simple act, a warm smile.

This site is all about celebrating ways to love others -- even strangers.

We'll be taking little steps, sharing the adventure, laughing over the attempts that fall flat, and watching to see what surprises God may have in store.

How about you? Has someone ever offered you a small act of kindness that touched your place of deep need? Post a comment here. Maybe some of us can duplicate the good deed!

Blessings!
Sharon Hinck
Coming Soon:
Stepping Into Sunlight

Share Ideas Here

Please post your creative ideas in the comment section any time -
little acts of love, small steps of kindness, spontaneous deeds that bring joy to someone else.

From time to time I'll organize and compile ideas around themes and use them in posts.

Blessings!
Sharon Hinck