This mom, Amy Beth Gardner, has done what can only be described as a beautiful post on Facebook about raising her two young girls. We have heard from this mom before so another viral post is no surprise! Amy Beth, whether depicting the power of words with toothpaste or showing her daughters the magic of Disney we are always learning, and it’s always awesome to have lessons from Amy Beth. Being a mom isn’t an easy thing, no wonder she is able to draw on passion in her experiences after all her own personal journey has forced her to develop that inner strength. She struggled with infertility before she began fostering children in need!

Months after her decision to foster, close to midnight, the caseworkers landed on her doorstep with two young girls, 5 years and 9 years old. Now moving on, 509 days on to be precise that Amy Beth and her husband have been parents to Breona and Bridgett.

Even in their joyful lives, Breona and Bridgett still have little moments where samll things can make them recall a bad memory from the past. Amy Beth recently shared a powerful story about Halloween and how it caused one of her daughters to have one of those moments, Amy beth gives us the most beautiful pictures of redemption. See her story below:

“My youngest daughter was five years old when she came to us via foster care.”

“As we approached our first Halloween together, I noticed that she and her nine year old sister froze in fear each time I mentioned the upcoming holiday. I finally asked the girls if they had ever experienced Halloween before coming to live with us and was horrified by their answer.”

“They took turns telling me about how they had once been given candy for Halloween only to have an adult take the candy and eat it in front of them while making them watch. When the girls began to cry, the adult handed them the brown paper wrappers that had been holding the chocolate peanut butter cups and forced them to eat the empty wrappers, a cruel way to give the girls a literal taste of what they were missing out on that Halloween evening.”

“With this story in mind, I knew that I needed to approach our first Halloween with them cautiously. My instincts were confirmed when I noticed that the girls were discreetly counting the pieces of candy they received as they walked from house to house in their adorable costumes.”

“When we got home, I pulled out two plastic bags and a black marker and explained to the girls that I wanted them to count their pieces of candy as they put it into the bags. When they finished counting, I helped them label their bags with the precise number of pieces of candy inside and, each time they would eat a piece of candy, I helped them relabel their bags.”

“For weeks after Halloween, despite our assurances that we would not eat their candy, the girls asked if they could recount the pieces before going to bed. I would sit and count their candy with them night after night, earning their trust one lollipop at a time.”

“That was fall of 2014. They are now adopted and thriving in our home but each October the story of the one Halloween that they were forced to eat empty candy wrappers resurfaces in their young minds.”

“Last night, as I was cleaning up our kitchen after dinner, I noticed my youngest daughter rooting around in the pantry. As I finished wiping down our counter-tops, she approached me with a bag of candy she had collected while at a recent Halloween event.”

“She had wrapped the bag in a piece of paper and it was clear she was presenting it to me as a gift. As I pulled the piece of paper off the bag, I saw these words scrawled in her sweet third grade handwriting:”

“Mom, I want to give you a taste of how much love I have for you by giving you my candy.”

“Let that sink in for a moment. This child, who was once forced to eat empty candy wrappers, went through her bag of Halloween candy to select pieces she thought I would enjoy and then gave them to me as a gift.”

“She didn’t choose her least favorite candies or only pick out one or two pieces to give. She filled a bag full of her very favorite pieces and gave them to me with so much earnest pride on her face that I could cry just typing these words.”

“You have gifts to offer, too. But, like my daughter and her candy, I’m almost certain that your most valuable gift is connected to deeply rooted pain in your life. You and I have the opportunity daily to make the choice to take the terrible things that have happened to us and turn them into gifts to offer to this hurting world.”

“My daughter’s gift of candy was priceless because of what it cost her. She chose to give despite what had been done to her. What if you and I show that same kind of courage today as we take inventory of our own pain — and allow the bitter to become sweet?”

  Wow! What a completely amazing story, it really shows that a child’s capacity for love is enormous, even in the memory of such a painful event from her past! If you felt touched like we did, then share this story!

Do you think you have found your soul-mate? You hope that your feelings will last forever, but then looking at the many couples in the world who have separated and you wonder why this is the case… One of the biggest reasons for people breaking up and separating is that falling out of love. Such a situation can be common a partner can actually fall out of love, lose his or her feelings over the years. So how can you know if your partner loves you? In a moment your relationship looks rosy, just like always, but from time to time you have worrying thoughts. Analyze your relationship for a moment, psychologists found that there are ten measurable things that show if your partner still loves you or not.

#1 – Demonstration Of Feelings

Your partner doesn’t demonstrate his feelings towards you, doesn’t show you any love, no flowers, no gestures, or even worse, they show feelings for someone else.

#2 – Listening And Concentration

Your partner is very distracted all the time and doesn’t listen to you, thinking about other things constantly.

#3 – Share Life Experiences

Your partner has lost interest in your life and you, you find it difficult to have common interests between you anymore.

#4 – Always Taking The Blame

Every little situation or problem and it’s suddenly your fault…. !

#5 – Lack Of Support

Your partner doesn’t support you and finds reasons why he can’t…

#6 – Leave Of Absence

Your partner takes every opportunity to be away from home and with friends instead of you.

#7 – Future Plans

Your partner makes plans for the future and you are not in those plans.

#8 – Doesn’t See The Good

Your partner remembers just all the bad parts of your relationship and absolutely forgotten the great times you had together.

#9 – I’ll Do What I Want

Your partner refuses to explain his behavior, even, if you ask him directly.

#10 – Bad Bad Bad

Your partner is constantly looking to make you feel bad and hurt you, lying and insincere. We hope that everyone really does experience true love, and remember just one of these on its own, or even just a few could mean you need to work harder at your relationship. But if you have all of them or nearly all of them, then its maybe time to move on to someone who deserves you! Lets spread the love and share this story with the people that it can really help!

Family bonds are really the strongest that exist between us humans, especially the bond of a parent, and in this case the bond of a father and daughter. So father to father when we can really relate to this bond that exists, that’s exactly what happened one day between two fathers in Orem, Utah. Appearing a the courthouse for a traffic ticket he got one day, Jose Moncayo, had desperately looked for a babysitter for his two year old little daughter, Abi. He wasn’t having any luck at all that day, in fact, he couldn’t get a babysitter for love nor money, …or could he? Well actually in this case, not for money but for love! As he had no choice but to bring his daughter to the courthouse, the two of them waited to appear in the court. When the time came to go into the courtroom Jose had the realization that he would need help.

As Jose waited for his turn in the courtroom Abo explored the hall where they were waiting, as much as she could anyway. She just couldn’t sit still beside her father and the whole building seemed like it was her play area! As she explored it as far as she was allowed. The time came and Jose was to appear in front of the judge, he was really in a tight spot, he wasn’t allowed to take Abi into the courtrooms with him. On the other hand, he couldn’t leave her there either, he didn’t know what he was going to do, until a hero stepped in. The Officers of the police department saved him. He said he would watch Abi while Jose was in court, the officer who stepped in went by the name of Officer Norris and previous to him stepping in he had been watching the father and daughter while he waited to give hos testimony. The Officer, seeing the situation Jose was in, he was very happy to help!

Officer Norris said:

“I’ve got kids myself”

“I know what it is to have rambunctious kids, and it’s hard to take them anywhere.”

The Officer held the girls hand, exhibiting some really great parenting skills, he showed her around th building to keep her occupied, lade sure she drank water, stayed hydrated, and she even got treats from the deputes of the court! What was going to be a serious problem turned into a great day for Abi! The young girl did eventually feel a little low on energy, Officer Norris sat with her and looked at some cartoons together on hos phone, she sat on his lap, clearly the Officer was in the little girls trust.

By the time Jose calm out of the courtroom his little Abo was asleep on the Officer, what a really great example of how these Officers really do care about the people around them. Officer Norris said:

“We’re not just officers who are out there to arrest people”

“We’re out there to make our community a better place.”

This officer really did make a positive difference by helping a fellow father who needed a helping hand. This man certainly made a difference by stepping in and helping a fellow father in his real time of need. It is really lovely to see genuine people helping each other out like this, such great community spirit. Please SHARE this with all your friends….

Once in a while, you get to know about a customer writing something on a receipt that is downright rude, it’s hard to believe it! There is a great sense of shock, its pretty unbelievable but it happens and it’s so inconsiderate for the person that is severing them. Thankfully most people out there are really not like that, not in the least bit. They really do want to share the love that most of us have for life and make everyone’s day a little happier and brighter. At the Tacoma in Washington, a restaurant that is part of the chain called ‘Buffalo Wild Wings’ there was a case just like this, not they were not being rude though it was the opposite! The restaurant serves American-style dishes, and has a great selection of hot spicy wings that everybody who tries, loves! It’s the kind of establishment where people can just go in, sit back, and get really tasty food to eat. The relaxed atmosphere that they exude is just awesome! This one day, a staff member called Brian Avey was on duty, serving customers! Just like a normal day he approached the woman, sitting alone, to take her order. She was there to have her lunch and ordered a sandwich and two beers, a Corona and a Blue Moon. Brian thought that was a bit odd, as she was on her own… Brian told her politely that he was sorry that he wasn’t able to bring her two beers because it was the restaurant’s policy to serve one beer at a time. The woman told the server exactly, her intentions… She had no intention of drinking two beers, in fact, she ordered the Corona beer for her brother, in his honor because he died in Iraq, fighting for his country. She would not even consider touching the second beer, it was symbolic and just her way to respect her brother. Brian posted to his social media:

“I told her she could only do one beer at a time. She said the Corona was for her brother who died in Iraq. It just sat next [to] her at an empty seat her entire lunch. When I brought her bill, I told her Buffalo Wild Wings will be buying that beer.”

The woman felt deeply touched by Brian’s actions and decided to write him a note. Brian not only waived the policy in the restaurant for the woman, very understandable don’t you think, but in addition, he gave her the beer with compliments, so she wouldn’t have to pay for it, what a great way to also show a sign of respect for her brother! Before she left she got the receipt and wrote on it how she felt. The note said:

“Thank you. An act of kindness goes a long way. It means a lot to me. Have a great rest of your day.”

She signed off:– “Grateful Soldiers.” She felt that this kind act really honored all the soldiers that also fought beside her brother too, and had they been there they would have thought so too! When the woman finished, she left and the beer remained on the table still, what would Brain decide to do with the beer…. Dumping it down the sink was really not on, and he felt like he wanted to do something more meaningful, so he put the beer next to the cooler to honor this woman’s fallen brother, the beer was sat ceremonially next to an American flag! Brian’s boss completely agreed with him, with one little proviso, he said to be sure to change the lime for a fresh piece every day, in remembrance of the soldier. This story just goes to show that a little bit of kindness really does go a long way. It just shows that a little bit of kindness goes much further than you can imagine!

Share this awesome story, inspire your friends and pay forward something for someone else!

Thinking about Halloween for a moment I bet you’re immediately thinking about trick or treaters and the many groups of marauding children all with bags full of candy treasure. All that sugar and all those hyper children with sugar rushes…. These kinds of circumstances give most people the picture of spooky and freaky costumes and large groups of happy sugared up children and with the fun of Halloween it’s not hard to think that its the ideal environment for children to get up to a bit of unsupervised naughtiness! But for this boy, Halloween brings out the very best in his nature, from Idaho Falls in Idaho, He really does something so special and it goes viral, for a change, for the best reason possible…

It was also really the most amazing thing that the owner had a security camera and it was recording the Haloween happenings, it perfectly captured this boy and his selfless and kind act, outside the home of Jesse Robertson. At Jesse’s home, outside he had placed a large bowl outside, with candy and a sign that reads “Do a trick, take a treat! Only one or two, please. You’re on camera!”. When the boy came to the bowl it was empty, he came, did a silly trick then he walked away, but…. Then he seemed to have a thought, then he turned back around, came back to the bowl and dipped into his own candy bag and put some handfuls of candy into the bowl!

How many children would you honestly see do this? I really do think about how amazing it was to see something like this happening. I mean, really, such a completely selfless act of kindness, it warms my heart to see such a kind thoughtful thing!

Just the thought of another child coming to the bowl and walking away without any candy, without anything at all. Replenishing Jesse’s candy bucket from his own supply! When another trick or treater come to the bowl he will go away feeling great about getting some lovely treats because of this young boy.

  See for yourself this amazing act of kindness, and what he does when he sees the empty bowl:

Sadly diagnosed with dementia around five years ago, Jessie Bell, a grandmother, was moved into a nursing home this year as her condition worsened, for her own safety and wellbeing. At a ripe old age of 94 she had done ok in life, but is now having a hard time in enjoying what’s left in life for her, Jessie’s daughter, Sandra, now 57 years old, described her mother as hardly ever smiling anymore. Sandra Said:

“She started doing the oddest things like going into the garden in the middle of the night to move around garden furniture or she’d try to cook her chips in washing-up liquid”

“It got to the point where my sister was going down there seven days a week and mom had carers too.

“She’d be getting up in the middle of the night and playing up so in the end we had no choice but to put her in a home.”

As her mother’s condition progressed it was inevitable that Jessie’s condition would become worse to the point that she couldn’t remember anymore that Sandra and Carol were her daughters. One year Carol, Sandra’s sister bought a doll for Jessie for their mother from a charity store, they desperately wanted their mother to feel happy again. Jessie, when she saw the doll thought it was a real baby, the doll made real baby noises too, it was quite convincing if your sight wasn’t too great! For the first time in a long time she started smiling again, she found some happiness! Jessie called the doll ‘Gizzy’, which also was her dog’s name! Sandra said:

“My mom will look into the doll’s face and say to me ‘isn’t she lovely? Look at her smile’ …then mom will smile too, she rarely smiles at anyone else”

Sandra after some refmection then said:

“She’s gone really downhill in the last few months and she can’t walk at all, but the baby is always with her”

“Every time we go in and see her the baby is always by her side,” she said. “When I visited last night, she was cuddling it in her arms.”

“She’ll feed it and if she’s eating something then the baby will have to eat too. She doesn’t change the baby’s nappy or clothes herself though because she kept pulling its arm out of the socket.”

Many of the residents at the nursing home took to the doll too, some of them, also with dementia will ask Sandra how the baby is doing when she comes to visit her mother. Sandra said:

“There’s a few other residents in the home that like to take her doll when she’s not looking”

“They get a lot of comfort from holding the baby.”

Some of the residents who are ‘sound of mind’, as Sandra said, ask Jessie regularly how the baby is doing, these are some of the few interactions Jessie is able to understand. Would you believe it, but there is definitely something there, “doll therapy” is a controversial but growing thing; It’s been found to calm people with dementia and be a bright spot in their lives, but some people are not comfortable with it. Sandra and Carol get some comfort in knowing their mom’s mind will be occupied while she is playing with the baby and she will feel a sense of happiness.

“I think the dementia has been harder for us than it has been for mom, but now when we leave her the doll gives her comfort”

While this story might be heartbreaking it is also a little ray of light for sons, mothers, and daughters in these positions, and it gives happiness and comfort to someone who otherwise would live every day in confusion and despair. The baby may not feel, look, or be real to us, but it is to Jessie! It brings peace to chaos, harmony to despair and confusion, and in the end, the result for Jessie is the most important thing of all!