just be kind

there is so much nastiness in the world at the moment. i can't understand why people need to behave the way they do but there seems to be no end in sight. innocent people have been murdered in the united states, a teenage boy has been killed at the hands of other teenage boys in the eastern states just this week... everything is already crazy from months on end of other issues with covid-19 at the middle and some days this feels as though it is never going to end.

this evening before bed i sat my kids down and told them some things that have been going through my mind. above everything else, be kind. being kind is not a weakness. it is showing strength. look for ways to help and uplift. be the person who helps others. who looks for ways to be better. who talks to people who are left out. who invites others who didn't get included. who volunteers to make the workload lighter. the person who exemplifies christ. 

christ taught us to "bear one anothers burdens that they may be light" and more than anything else to love one another. there was no exemptions on this, just love each other. the world is getting darker around us and we need to be the light and lead by example. they listened and asked questions, so hopefully my discussion (let's be honest, it was a lecture) had some impact on them. but honestly from me, to you, if you can choose to be something, choose to be kind. it doesn't cost anything and the rewards are infinite. 

pass it on

this morning i went to get something out of my handbag, which i hadn't used since sunday, only to find this little bag in there. i was so thrilled, i love things like this! i can't wait to refill it and pass it on. what a gorgeous idea! ♥

2016 resolutions

it's a new year, a fresh start, a clean slate, a new chapter, all of those nice things and the time when people make resolutions of things they will do, stop doing and change about themselves. a few years ago i read a blog online where the person had decided to choose a focus word (a single word) each year to work on. 

although i have made a few different resolutions this year, there is one thing above all else about myself that i need to try harder with. i need to be kind. to try harder to be kind. and to be kind to people who may not be kind to me. to remember that as that old primary song says, "kindness begins with me." and as president thomas s. monson said in his october 2015 general conference address, "speak with tolerance and kindness." i know i can make a difference if i only but try, not just to others, but to myself. 

so 2016 is the year i will be kind. ♥

kindness doesn't cost a cent

it is an absolute miracle that the house ended up going through... we were at the mercy of centrelink approving my application, which can take up to 33 days, with only 28 days allocated for finance. time was getting short and we were getting stressed... and by some miracle when i called, i spoke to someone who was absolutely lovely. not only did she mark it urgent and send it through, she then followed up the next day to make sure it had, then she called me to keep me updated, as well as asking me where she could send the printed approval. we made it through with even a few days to spare... thank heavens for people who go the extra mile... because we made it!