Random Acts of Kindness

I don't think there is a second of my day that I'm not thinking about Sam or something that has to do with Sam.  I want to tell everyone about him.  I want people to know about congenital heart defects.  Sam's life has taught me many things, including how brief our lives are, and I don't want to waste anymore of mine.  I don't want to waste Sam's life by only thinking about him--I want to do something with it.

I follow Jen Hatmaker on Facebook, and one day I saw her post about random acts of kindness done in honor of a little boy named Owen.  Owen had congenital heart defects and is in Heaven now, too.  Owen's amazing mommy started doing random acts of kindness on the 23rd of each month (in honor of Owen's birthday on February 23) to honor Owen, and she invited her friends and family to do the same.

I love this idea, and with Owen's mommy's permission, I am borrowing her wonderful idea.

On the 22nd of every month (in honor of Sam's birthday on September 22), we will be doing a random act of kindness to honor Sam.  You could even do them any other day of the month, if the Spirit moves.  No act of kindness is too small.  Someone in front of us in the drive-through line at Starbucks paid for our order years ago, and I'll never forget that.  You can buy a $5 gift card and leave it in a conspicuous place for someone to find.  You could mow your neighbor's yard, send someone flowers, bake something delicious and deliver it, run an errand for someone, or tape a dollar bill to a vending machine.  You can google ideas.  We will be including a small card to share Sam's story and raise awareness about CHDs.  If you would like to, snap a quick picture of your random act of kindness and post it to social media with the hashtag #samuelstephenbryan so we can spread Sam's story and raise awareness about CHDs. Awareness increases funding, funding increases research, research will lead to a cure, and one day no other family will lose their child because of CHDs.

***You can download the cards here to print on your own.***