Random Acts of Kindness: Lent Edition

Last Friday, Jac and I officially announced our first blog giveaway and how you could get your hands on a big bag of loot. You have the option of making a donation to Child’s Play Charity or to preform a Random Act of Kindness. Obviously, there is a straight line here between doing something nice and getting cool stuff, but sometimes it’s not always that clear.

It was my intention to tell you a story like the ones in this interview from Misha Collins about his experience as the recipient of a random act of kindness and his inspiration for starting Random Acts. From the interview:

I think it has to do with what I was the recipient of as a young person. I grew up with a family that had very little and were at times homeless. There are incidences in my childhood that stand out when people were really shockingly kind to us and took time and money out of their days and wallet and made a real difference for us. There was a woman that I didn’t even know that gave my mother $100 when I was 6 so she could buy us Christmas presents. If I remember that still, something was meaningful there.

That story get’s me right in my feels. I don’t have anything nearly so heart wrenching though. Instead, I’m going to tell you about a time that being kind paid off for me.

About a month after moving to Pennsylvania (nearly 6 years ago now), I was not in the best place emotionally. This was before I had met Mr. Llama and I was in a relationship, which could be categorized as “bad” on the best of days. Jac hadn’t moved out to PA yet and I was generally really lonely.

On a whim, I drove over to a new knitting group. Everyone was pretty cool. At the end, a girl I hadn’t really talked to asked if anyone was going to drive through Ardmore and if so, could she catch a ride. Driving strangers around went against my better judgement, but she looked pretty harmless. (Spoiler: Erica is many things but “harmless” is probs not the best adjective.) Since I lived in Ardmore at the time, I told her she could ride with me.

As she was giving me directions to her house, I started to get concerned. We were getting closer to MY house. Was she a serial killer? Had she been stalking me and was ready to kill me in my living room?

“There. I’m the white one on the corner,” she said, pointing at my house.

It turned out that she lived on the 3rd floor of the triplex and was NOT an ax murderer. We’ve been close friends ever since and even though life has since then taken us to different geographical places, I know she is always someone I can count on. It would’ve been easier to just keep quiet and assume someone else would drive her home, but I’m really glad I didn’t.

Last week, I told you about my quest to give back for Lent this year instead of attempting to give up Oreos once again. And since I’m a girl of my word, this week I bring you the Celtic Lace Scarf (click on the link to automatically download the pattern for free). It was actually one of the first patterns I ever designed. I’ve dusted it off and revamped it just for you!

My early designs were HEAVILY influenced by Meg Swansen’s work, particularly her pattern book A Gathering of Lace. Chances are I’ve mentioned that book before, but it’s worth bringing up over and over again. It was first introduced to me by Erica and in many ways, was the book that inspired me to begin designing. So, in a roundabout sort of way, you wouldn’t have this scarf pattern today if I hadn’t done a random act of kindness almost six years ago. :D

I’d love to hear your stories! Sound off in the comments and tell me about a time that being kind paid off for you. Or, better yet, go out right now and do a random act of kindness.

~ Megan-Anne
But before I kill you, Mr. Bond, let me show you [insert your own nefarious plot here].