Weekend Kindness
Reaching Others Through Kindness

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I don’t know when it happened, but sometime between the first time I realized I liked coffee and the time when Starbucks appeared on every street corner in America, coffee changed from just something that I drink to an event to be savored and enjoyed.

Oh, I still drink coffee every morning just as part of the routine (a readily available brand that won’t break the budget), but when I go out for coffee, it’s not just to get coffee, but to enjoy the aroma of the coffee shop, the small tables set up for intimate conversation, and the handful of other folks who are enjoying the experience as much as I.

While the coffee is often too strong at the local coffee shop, I’ve learned that two packs of Sugar in the Raw and a pretty decent serving of half and half will do the trick and gives me a treat that I don’t indulge in at home, where my coffee of choice is generally just black.

For my husband, however, going out for coffee does not have the same appeal. Although he is learning to appreciate the difference between store brands and freshly roasted coffee, he is just as happy most of the time with staying home and brewing Seattle’s Best in our coffee maker and sitting on the front porch as we drink every lost drop.

I know it seems like a very silly thing to get exicted about and to feel loved because of, but on those rare occasions when my husband wakes up on Friday or Saturday morning and says “Let’s go out for coffee and read the newspaper there,” I think that he truly, truly loves me. There is more to this gesture than just saying, “Let’s go somewhere,” because if he just wanted to go somewhere with me it would be hiking or fishing or golfing or some other activity that he really enjoys.

But when he says, “Let’s go out for coffee,” I know that he’s suggesting it because he loves me and because he knows how much I enjoy the experience and how good it makes me feel to savor a cup of coffee that’s a little too strong unless it has just the right amount of cream and sugar.

February 24 through March 1 is National Eating Disorder Awareness Month. Typically this is frame around a “Love Your Body” week (or month) on most college campuses and communities! Here, we’ve been loving our bodies all month long. It’s been truly a great month of educational opportunities and empowerment to really celebrate the body you have and not critique it for it’s faults.

Yesterday, I had the honor of listening to four women from outside the United States. A woman from Sudan, a woman from India, one from Mexico, and one from Bocstand heritage. Each woman had such a beautiful perspective of beauty in their culture. Many woman brought pictures of their children, mothers and friends. When asked the question, “what do you love about your body”, not one mentioned a physical characteristic, but gave thanks to having a healthy body, all their limbs and to have not be taken over by illness. How cool!
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If you have been around blogs and blogging for any length of time, you are probably familiar with Blogthings. In poking around some blogs the other day, I ran across the intriguing question, What’s Your Name’s Hidden Meaning? Because it is nearly impossible to find the name Claudia in any of those personalized trinkets or souvenirs you see at nearly any checkout counter, I decided to give it a try just to see what would happen.

Lo and behold, Claudia was in the database and here are a few of the results:

• You are very open. You communicate well, and you connect with other people easily. (actually, I’m a good listener)
• You are a naturally creative person. Ideas just flow from your mind. (got me confused with someone else here)
• A true chameleon, you are many things at different points in your life. (aren’t we all?)
• You are very adaptable (most of the time)
• You are light hearted and accepting. You don’t get worked up easily. (true, no extremes here)
• Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is. (The joy of the Lord is my strength, that’s my “secret”.)
• You don’t really have a lot of worries. (see above)
• You are balanced, orderly, and organized. You like your ducks in a row. (what’s the point of having ducks if they’re not in a row?)
• People can see you as stubborn and headstrong. You definitely have a dominant personality. (who? me?)

It also said I was tightly wound and a type-A personality, but those don’t fit me at all.

Here a few other things you should probably know: (more…

This February we here at Weekend Kindness are going to focus on building relationships by giving you dating ideas, talking about times where our husband or wife showed love, showing love to our children and talking about passion while being pure.

I’m really excited about this new focus, and to keep the excitement going, we will be having a contest on our way to building up 101 Relationship Secrets!  That’s right, we’re looking for you to contribute relationship secrets in one of four areas all through this month. We’ll also be announcing prizes– one from each group!

We’ll ask the authors at WK to judge the submissions, but they will not have the names of those that submitted, just the entries. You can use the form below to place your entries or the link at the top of the blog.

Thanks again for coming by Weekend Kindness, and tell your friends about the contest– if you want to donate a book or item to the contest, drop us a note via the contact form and we will promote your item and your site!

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We all have them– habits that is.  We have things that we do that totally annoy our spouse and they’ve let us know it. Be it something that is as big as smoking or picking your nose to the small things like snapping your gum or chewing with your mouth open, this week we’re encouraging you to promise to change that habit! You know that you’ve been promising for quite a while– now surprise them by actually following through!

Promise to change a habit that your love has been wanting you to change.

So what are you waiting for– make the promise and keep it!

Before we got married, my wife gave me a smooth stone that she’d painted purple with green dots on it that said “I love you.”  The neat thing is that I still have it today and it’s message is still true!

Today’s mission is the same idea, though it doesn’t have to be the same message.

Make a paperweight from a smooth stone, paint it, and write a special love message on it.

• It’s enduring– it’s something that you’ll cherish for years to come. 
• It’s something that’s practical– we all need a paperweight from time to time.
• It’s message is timeless– it’s something that you want to symbolize permanence.

So now you just have to go find a stone and crack out your set of paint.  Be creative, and make it memorable.

Now that Christmas has passed, we have a vision of a new year upon us. I imagine in the next few days we’ll be seeing many “the best of 2007″ recaps! It’s always fun to see the highlight of the past year and I wanted to pass along my top 5 ways of showing kindness over the past few years. It stemmed from a few “new years resolutions” gone right!

5. Call your parents twice a week and siblings at least once. I had received a daily desk calendar with lots of great daily tips, this one stuck out to me, so I’ve carried it from office to office and had it sitting out so it’s a visual reminder that family is important!

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