Sometimes we hear about how a person did this or that and changed lives forever for the better in doing so. Generally, we say "wow, good for them" or "wow, look at all that one {extraordinary} individual managed to do."

Rarely do we say, "hmm, how can WE change someone's life today?"

Some friends and I received a book for children called Ordinary Mary's Extraordinary Deed. We were challenged to read the book, and be inspired to do something simple with our children to show that a tiny act of kindness can go incredibly far... like perhaps to every person in the world, as the small girl named Mary did in the story.

What struck me most about this is how little I consider doing these tiny deeds. I just go about managing life like normal, and don't stop to think of neighbors or people we pass daily.

I was thinking all month of tiny gestures to make for others that my girls would enjoy. What I noticed is that it is SIMPLE to do something not only as a one-time thing, but regularly. We've decided that we will do one ordinary act of kindness every week through this year. We want it to become a lifestyle, rather than a single act.

This week, we made ordinary cupcakes. We would never have finished the entire batch anyway, and we have a lot of construction going on in our neighborhood. We took a platter full of cupcakes to the construction site, and the girls happily shared that they made them for the workers last night. The whole "make someone smile" concept is just NOT as hard as it seems. The workers were charmed and delighted, as were my kiddos {who giggled as they watched them eat out our window- ha!}.

See how some friends are showing kindness to get more ideas: