How to Bring Back the Kindness: Have a Kindness Contest

Brown poster size of paper on a blue wall. Paper says "Kindness Chart" on top and lists names and tally marks.

I don’t know if your family struggles with this, but we’ve been having a horrible time being kind to one another. Not just the boys, me too. Not sure of the reason. Maybe it’s because we’re not really settled yet in our new home or we’re all still adjusting to a new life in Tennessee.

Perhaps its due to poor sleep since we’re camping on air mattresses. We moved into our house mid-August but are trying to paint the walls before we move all our furniture from storage. I know it is crazy but it is the way we like to do it. What I do know is the lack of kindness HAS TO STOP!

How to have a Kindness Contest

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Happy Friday From the Friendly State of Tennessee

Black and White text mural that says, " Nashville Looks good on you"
Mural by thenash.tn found in 12 South Neighborhood in Nashville, TN

So much has been going on around here. I have been making a list of all the things I want to share with y’all.

  1. First, people in Tennessee are so nice, I mean they go above and beyond nice. Our neighbors invited us to a potluck right off the bat, another neighbor brought us homemade cookies, and another neighbor and I have weekly coffee dates. It feels so nice to already be making connections since we are so far away from our Oklahoma people.
  2. The fences in Tennessee are so gorgeous. Full of history, made with beautiful materials, and so picturesque. Stone, picket, civil war style to name a few.
  3. Do you have a budding little typist? My friend, Heather, shared an awesome website that teaches the keys to the computer keyboard.  It’s free, too.
  4. I’ve been listening to the audiobook Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis. I recommend it. I also was able to watch her movie in the theater, Made for More. In her book, she talks about how important it is to not break promises to yourself. So many times we keep our promises to others but don’t follow through on the things we’ve promised ourselves. (more…)

One Week Time Span – New Job, New House, and New School

In May, my husband, Brent, and I sat down at our dining room table with a yellow legal pad and wrote down all the steps it would take to move to Nashville. At that time we had no place to live, no job, and no school in mind for Grant. It was overwhelming, to say the least. We started researching more thoroughly and found the house prices to be 2 or 3 times more what we paid in Oklahoma. The promise for a good elementary school in a neighborhood we could afford seemed hopeless.

pen outline drawing of Nashville, TN

 

We took this leap of faith because we have always wanted to live near Brent’s family. We loved the years we spent in Oklahoma and when we got married we said it would be nice if we could spend some time living near my family and time living near Brent’s family.

Even though we felt at peace about the move there were many obstacles ahead of us. Brent would have to quit his job, we would live off of savings for a few months or until he found a job, we had to sell our Oklahoma house and all the details in Tennessee would have to be worked out. The funny thing is that this was not our first time to move to a new city without jobs. We did it when we moved to Los Angeles and when we moved to Oklahoma. Somehow since the Lord had provided for us in years past it was easier to trust that he would do it again. Although, I did have moments when fear and uncertainty got the best of me.

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