Marissa Henley

Encouraging weary women to hope in Christ alone

RACK Update ~ Carols, coffee, and candy canes!

by Leave a Comment

We have been having a blast with our RACK projects in the last few days.  On Tuesday, we called our church office and got Starbucks orders from our pastor and church secretary and took them coffee and coffeecake.  It was so fun to see them and chat for awhile!  The boys are both very enamored with Pastor Chris, so I think they were thrilled to do something for him.

On Wednesday was my FAVORITE of all our RACK projects.  We went with some friends to sing Christmas carols in the chemotherapy treatment room at the oncology clinic.  Last December, when I was there receiving chemo, some nurses got together and sang carols for us.  I decided then that if I was able, I would bring my kids to sing the next Christmas.  So it was very meaningful to me to be able to go and spread joy to the nurses and patients there this year.  After the kids sang, I handed out candy canes to the patients and nurses and chatted with a few, then went around the clinic handing out candy canes to all my old friends.  Everyone was so excited to see my hair!  🙂

On Thursday, we got a Shell gift card and taped it to a gas pump.  Then we had a stake-out to see if it would get used.  I put it on the last pump so no one would see me, but as it turns out, the last pump doesn’t get used very often.  Despite all our cheering from inside our van for cars to pull up to “our” pump, no one did.  After about 20 minutes, we left and went to the grocery store and came back later.  The gift card was still there!  So I got out, moved it one pump over, and we resumed our stake-out.  About two minutes later, someone pulled up to the pump where the card USED to be.  We couldn’t believe it!  We waited another 20 minutes, but still no action on our pump.  We gave up and trust that the Lord brought just the right person along eventually!  We also enjoyed handing out candy canes to Salvation Army bell ringers as we ran errands that day.

Are you looking for a RACK project that only costs $1 and doesn’t even involve getting your kids out of the car?  Today we drove around taping our RACK cards and candy canes to ATM machines.  We also tried our Shell gas card trick again, this time putting them on busier gas pumps.  We got to see people get both of our cards . . . in both cases, they went ahead and paid for their gas, and then stood looking at the pump for awhile, looked around, and then took the Shell card for next time.  I guess when you encounter something that unexpected, it’s hard to know what to do at first!  We had a blast and felt like secret agents!

Our RACK 2011 project is almost done!  Tomorrow night we are hoping to take a plate of cookies to the people working at the desk in the emergency room.  Last year, I spent several hours on December 24 at the hospital receiving a blood transfusion, and I’m sure it’s no fun to work in the ER on Christmas Eve.  We’re looking forward to spreading some joy there, as we celebrate the birth of our Savior!

Share

Random Acts of Christmas Kindness 2011

by 3 Comments

I have a friend from college who has amazing ideas.  (She will tell you she gets them from other people, but she herself is pretty amazing.)  She is the one who inspired my Christmas by December 1 project.  And now she has inspired my what-to-do-in-December-when-you’re-done-shopping-and-wrapping-gifts project.  I’ve wanted to be like her when I grow up ever since freshman year.  So I am excited to tell you about what I’ve learned from her this time . . . now that I’ve sufficiently embarrassed her . . . it’s Random Acts of Christmas Kindness (RACK) 2011!

My friend has done a great job explaining it on her blog.  The idea is that each day of December leading up to Christmas, you do something kind for someone else.  She has adorable little bags with the tasks for each day, like an advent calendar.  I’m jumping on the RACK bandwagon a little late, so I don’t have cute bags.  I have a tentative outline and a couple of specific plans for specific days, but I think most days we will just wake up and figure out what we can do to bless someone else.  And I’ll blog about it, not to be boastful, but to hopefully motivate some of you to join us in spending our December blessing others.

Our RACK 2011 project started yesterday.  On Wednesdays, my oldest child and I go to the public library to work on schoolwork while the younger two attend Bible Study Fellowship.  We get coffee and hot chocolate at the coffee shop in the lobby, and the man who works there, Daniel, is so friendly and always remembers exactly what everyone who walks in the door orders.  Yesterday, my son and I went to the library armed with the RACK cards I made, a candy cane and a $20 bill.

We gave Daniel the candy cane and wished him a merry Christmas.  Then we told him we needed his help.  (Thankfully, there was no one in line behind us.)  We gave him the cards and the $20 and told him that we wanted to pay for however many people we could with the $20 and asked him to keep our secret and give out the cards explaining why we were doing it.  He was so excited!  We sat nearby with our drinks and our schoolbooks and watched it all go down.

The first lady he treated with the money was so grateful that she paid for the person behind her in line!  That stretched our money even further!  A line formed, and people would hear that the person ahead of them had been paid for, and then they would be so surprised when it applied to them as well.  It was fun to watch.  There was one person at the end of the line that I knew was probably going to just barely miss out.  When she got to the counter, Daniel said, “I still have a handful of change here.  I can treat you to a cup of coffee.”  She gladly accepted.  I think Daniel probably helped us out a little on that one–I saw him rummaging in the tip jar afterwards.

Some other plans we have include going to the post office at lunchtime next week to hand out candy canes to customers in line and the workers, taping quarters to candy and toy machines around town, and treating a Salvation Army bell ringer.  I’m excited to work on this with my kids and show Christ’s love to others after He has lavished us with His love.

Share