RACK 16 and 17

For RACK (Random Acts of Christmas Kindness) 16 we went to a local nursing home one evening and Michael and Isabella played the piano and handed out cards they made to the residents.  This was the idea of their piano teacher (wonderful woman!).  It was so great to see kids get over their fears and play for complete strangers.  One of the residents there had just buried her husband that afternoon and she was so thrilled to be able to enjoy children and music at the same time.  My son pushed one resident all the way back to her room for her.  I was so proud as I watched him carefully guide her out of the room and down the hallway.
RACK 17 was another one of those fun "I wonder . . ." type RACKs.  The children and I went to see the "Nutcracker" with our Homeschool group.  (It was wonderful by the way!  I don't have the opportunity to take in the fine arts as much as I would like, so as the ballet began I was literally fighting back tears of joy.)  After it was over we stopped at a diner type restaurant.  We talked about looking for someone to RACK.  Again, I was a bit discouraged as we didn't see anyone right away that we thought may be in need.  Just as we were about to leave, an older couple came in and sat down.  It was obvious by their clothes that they struggled to make ends meet.  This seemed to be a rare occasion for them to eat out, even at a little diner.  The three of us formulated a plan.  As the kids cleaned up the table, I went to register to pay for our bill and I bought a gift card.  When I got back to the table I got out our RACK card and one of the tracts my aunt have given us.  With giddy grins we headed toward the couple.  I placed everything on the table, told them how much was on the gift card and said "Merry Christmas!"  They were so surprised but immediately said, "Thank you".  They kept saying thank you as we walked away.  How cool!  The three of us just giggled as we pulled away.  That couple has now been added to our RACK prayer list.
We haven't made it to RACK 18 yet, but not for lack of trying.  Hopefully tomorrow we will be able to do some more RACKing.