February Family Challenge ~ Making The World A Better Place

How many of us have had our day quickly turned around by a small act of kindness? I know this has happened to me a bazillion times and I am always so grateful for whoever took the time to think of someone else. One of my favorite stories is of “Johnny the Bagger.” Johnny was a bagger at a grocery store. Johnny also had down syndrome. He went to a customer service conference where the speaker told everyone to make customers feel welcome and want to come back to the store by putting their personal signature on their work. Johnny didn’t really know what he could do, because he was only a bagger, but then he came up with an idea. Every night before work Johnny would look up an inspirational quote or make one up. He then printed them and cut each one out. He stuck them in his pocket the next day for work and every time he would bag someone’s groceries, he would slip in a quote and tell them to have a nice day. After a few weeks, Johnny had a line of people waiting to go through his checkout stand. When others opened up no one would move because they wanted Johnny’s quote of the day. His spirit of love spread and inspired many people work to bring small acts of kindness to others. Watch a great clip of his story here. (The whole story is better than my condensed version.) I love Johnny’s example of making the world a better place in his own way. Service truly brings a spirit of love to the giver and the receiver!

The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.
~Mahatma Ghandi

This month, our family challenge to you is to find a way to make the world a better place! It will help your family to not only see what a positive impact they can have on other people but also bring you closer as a family through the service you render.

Here are some ideas of projects you might decide to do: