Tiny Envelope #5 – Michelle’s Story

Kristy, thank you so much for my envelope! I use it as my catch all for the little things like shape n tape and small stickers. And my coupon for Pink Voctoria’s Secret!

Tiny Envelope #4 – Jessica’s Story

The Tiny Envelopes are making their way across the country and becoming bright spots in people’s lives! This tiny envelope will make its way to the hospital tomorrow where 8 year old Benjamin is staying.

Benjamin’s mom made these small circles and tucked them into the envelope. When Benjamin wants a little pick me up, he can take a circle out and see the little love note from mom!

The outside is kept shut with a strip of cute owl Washi tape. It can be stuck and un-stuck over and over, without tearing anything!

What a wonderful mom to do something fun and creative for her boy in the hospital. He is just a circle away from words of love, that only a mom can give!

Thanks so much for sharing your story!

Random Act of Kindness

I found this most delightful little book in the SeaTac airport and I can’t wait to share its contents with all of you!!

I’m just now starting to thumb through it and it is packed full of wonderful ness!!!

Let me tease you with the quote on the inside cover…

“The center of human nature is rooted in ten thousand ordinary acts of kindness that define our days.” -Stephen Jay Gould

Tiny Envelopes

Quite a while ago…probably at least 5 years…I bought 100 Tiny Envelopes from a seller on Etsy.  I don’t remember who it was.  I don’t remember how much they cost.  I just know that I had big plans for these tiny envelopes!

Fast forward to today.  They have been sitting in my roll-top desk, in a cute little drawer, since I purchased them, and I may have used one or two of them to send a little love note, or note of encouragement to one of my children.

I still have high hopes for these envelopes, but I need you all to help me!  I have already given many of them away in RAKs!  I want to hear what you do with them!  I know one person put a $50 bill in one, and taped it in her planner on her birthday, as a birthday gift to herself!  I think another gal copied her and did the same thing!

If you get a RAK from me, there will be a tiny envelope in it.  I want to hear what you do with it!!  I want to follow the path of my tiny envelopes and see how they are blessing people!

Give them a voice, give them a purpose, give them life, to give life to the recipient!  Let them bring sunshine, or a smile, or a laugh…let them serve a purpose, let them do a job, let them unveil a surprise!

TELL ME WHAT YOU DO WITH YOUR TINY ENVELOPE!  PM me on Facebook or send an email with the link above that says “Submit a Blog Post”.

I want to hear, and I want to write about it!!  Kristy

Tiny Envelope #3 – Sarah’s Story

“I love seeing what others receive in the mail, but I myself am not part of the RAK list {I’m one of those strange people [who] are uncomfortable with receiving things}. So, imagine my SHOCK when I received something in the mail this past week. I was so 10000% sure it wasn’t for me, that I went and got an envelope and a stamp so I could get in touch with the sender and forward it on to whomever she really intended it to be for. Sarah is a common name, so it must have been for another Sarah.

Then I opened it and saw it was filled with owl stuff. As I stared at it, it started to come back to me. I went back to a very old FB post where Kristy asked if anyone wanted owl things. I said I did, but I don’t believe I ever sent her my address, nor did she ask for it. I forgot about it. So, thank you so very much Kristy! I love them all; especially, the little pieces of glitter tape and I put a spare car key in the little envelope and stuck it in my planner (I didn’t want the key to discolor the pouch)!”

Yay!  This tiny envelope “served a purpose”!  Thank you so much Sarah for sharing your story with all of us! 🙂

Kristy

 

 

Heartfelt RAK

I love hearing your stories…how participating in RAK 2014 “Wake Up Your Mailbox” is blessing your life!  This week I received several RAKs.  This one I wanted to share!

All the little goodies are so much fun!  I don’t have any of the Washi Tape samples so it will be fun to find places where I can use these!  I always LOVE word stickers, and with me subbing full-time next week in a grades 1-4 classroom, these will definitely come in handy for that special paper!

The care and creativity that goes into the preparation for a RAK is what makes giving them so addicting!!  Who wouldn’t be happy getting the above envelope in the mail…custom RAK label, and handwritten instructions, along with beautiful stickers…it’s like a little treasure in the mailbox!!

And then the letter….wow~!  I feel so blessed to find out how the RAK program is blessing people’s lives.  This is the real stuff of life…finding it in yourself to GIVE, in the midst of your own trials!  Thank you Rechelle for sharing a piece of your heart and soul with me.

I love your RAK and your letter and your willingness to share with all of us.  Kristy

Priscilla’s Story – The Car Wreck

Every day in the new RAK 2014 “Wake Up Your Mailbox” group, we see photos of happiness, sweet words of thanks, and you can feel the smiles behind the words as people find happy mail in their mailboxes.  Two days ago, Priscilla posted this…

“THANK YOU! Courtney 😎 from a 1st timer to a 1st timer and I’m super happy today was a great day for it to come as it lifted my mood (@730am I hit a patch of ice and now my truck is gone I’m 100% good) so now I can work a nightshift in good spirits.”

Photo by Priscilla

WHOA!!!  EVERYBODY STOP RIGHT THERE!!!

When you see a post like that on Facebook, there is way more to the story than that  one tiny paragraph revealed.  I immediately contacted Priscilla and asked her if she would be willing to tell us more!  She said she would.

Here is her story…

“I usually work day shift from 5-530am, that means I get up at 3am! I took some [overtime] this week on the off shift from 5pm-530am. I was tired. The roads were slick. I didn’t feel well. I hit black ice.

…it was all so fast! I do know that I fishtailed, hit a telephone pole, took out a stop sign, and a farmers fence. I called my uncle then I called the police. Not long after my calls a truck came up the road. He stopped to check on me, then went to tell the farmer about his fence since he currently had cattle out to pasture. The cop said he had 5 more wrecks after me. The tow truck said he had been out since 4am. My one vehicle wreck without injuries happened about 7:30am. I got home, 11 miles from my wreck, around 10:30am. I changed out of my clothes and I was asleep in nothing flat!

Around 11am my son gave me 1 piece of mail. I was awake enough to know what it was, but too tired still…

When I got up about 1:30pm I didn’t open it. I kind of held it….

…I admired the ink used for the addresses and wondered what was inside. I thought it was super cute with the strip of washi tape. I knew it was the perfect day for happy mail. The letter inside said it was her first RAK. It was my very first RAK! I haven’t been a member very long. I didn’t even order a Life Planner until after I joined the group! I joined the RAK swap thinking it would be very fun. I didn’t really think it would warm my heart!

I liked that from reading other events/swaps with all my Facebook groups, this seemed the most pure, the least drama filled, and without strict rules. [It was] perfect for a beginner! I had requested my first 2 names and mailed them out. I loved looking to see all the pictures of everyone’s goods… Thank you for all the time you put into helping us all spread a little sunburst of cheer! I’m looking forward to passing it along to my next set of names!”

I read her words and held back the tears.  I had no idea a simple RAK could be so profound in someone’s hands.  The simple act of putting a few decorations in an envelope is bigger than all of us.  It is an act of service, an act from the soul of the human spirit.  We have no idea what the impact will be on the other end.  There are stories every day.  We all want to hear those stories.

I asked her for a few more details…

“I did fishtail right away. Trying to correct, I ended up over the centerline. While I was on the road I feel like I did a 180. I hit the telephone pole then ran over across a gravel road landing into the fence and taking out the stop sign. I was driving north. I ended up on the same side of the road (east) facing south. [I’m] looking forward to seeing others share how this program has helped them find the light in the fog! Thanks again!

And even with this being a bad thing,  and I’m sad about losing my truck, it could have ended very badly.  I don’t really even feel that badly about the event. I really do feel calm about it all now. I thought for a minute about not going in to work my 2nd 12 hours of overtime but I wasn’t hurt and I have another car, so I couldn’t feel wimpy!  I’d like to think the RAK helped me with that.”

Thank you so much Priscilla for sharing your story!  Thank you Courtney for sending the RAK when you did.  I think it arrived at the perfect moment!

Record Breaker January 13th

Wow!  Today was a busy day for me!  We broke both records today…number of new people joining the RAK program, and number of names given out!

I’ve just started keeping track of how many new people join each day, and today we had  17 new people join!  I’m certain that is the most ever!

There were 109 names and addresses given out today, 2 more than our previous record of 107 on both January 6th and December 30th!

I’m logging my hours too!  I’ll keep that a secret for now!!

The ORIGINAL RAK!

It started very simply.

Someone in the Erin Condren Fan Club had posted a photo of their planner with a tiny little heart on the first of each month, as a reminder to do their breast self-exam.

I thought it was a really good idea, so immediately went out to the store and bought tiny hearts. I needed only 12 of them, so I decided to share them with others. I had enough for 7-9 people so I posted this photo and Nancy, Tami, Lena, Emily, Debi, Connie, Evelyn,  and Shannon responded.

…And they got the very first RAKs ever!

I added a few stickers, a tiny envelope, and a little note, and the RAK was born!!