Second Thoughts | Kindness: More Than Just Being Nice
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The Ripple Effect: Why Small Acts of Kindness Matter: https://journey-with-care.captivate.fm/episode/s04e12/
Description
Is kindness more than just being nice?
In this thought-provoking conversation, Wendi and Johan Heinrichs delve into the nuances of kindness, contrasting it with mere niceness and examining its transformative power. Drawing from personal experiences and biblical insights, they explore how small and often unnoticed acts of kindness can create ripples that transform entire communities, much like the pollination work of bees. They challenge listeners to distinguish between genuine kindness and the facade of politeness, urging for deeper engagement and presence, especially in the face of complex and challenging issues like reconciliation with Indigenous communities. Wendi and Johan also reflect on the importance of sacrificial giving, the potential for kindness to provoke positive change, and how kindness can be integrated into daily life rather than seen as isolated projects.
Time Stamps
[05:39] "Finding Deeper Calling in Service"
[08:20] Acts of Kindness Connect to Faith
[11:00] Sacrificial Giving and Generosity
[13:49] Embracing Your Natural Impact
[16:31] "Kindness vs. Niceness: The Distinction"
[21:17] Reflecting on Kindness Amidst Tragedy
[23:27] Canadianizing CarePortal Challenges
[26:44] Care Lingo
Other Links
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Transcript
Talked about reconciliation, and a lot of the churches avoiding
Speaker:that were just being nice and saying, well, that's that's all passed. That's not
Speaker:who we are now. But that's one of those hard issues that we need
Speaker:to recognize and speak out the truth and love so that we can move
Speaker:forward. And it's not just being nice to the indigenous
Speaker:people. No. We need to be able to sit with our discomfort. To
Speaker:even know what kindness looks like, have we asked the question?
Speaker:This is Journey with Care, a podcast by Care Impact where curious
Speaker:Canadians find inspiration to love others well through real life
Speaker:stories and honest conversations.
Speaker:What if we've been measuring kindness all wrong? We crave
Speaker:the big moments, those grand gestures, but what if the real
Speaker:impact of kindness happens in those moments no one sees?
Speaker:You know, sometimes we throw an icebreaker question in our interviews just for fun,
Speaker:you know, to get the conversation moving, something unexpected
Speaker:meant to loosen things up before we get into the deeper stuff. But this
Speaker:time with Zach so we're talking about our last episode with
Speaker:Zach Mantai. The ripple effects, small acts, big impact.
Speaker:We gave Zach this question, if kindness were a mascot,
Speaker:what would it be and why? And honestly, we weren't expecting
Speaker:anything deep or profound. He was on point. Yeah. Like,
Speaker:his answer was a bumblebee, And it kinda drove our conversation
Speaker:and it kept coming up in the conversation. He described how bees,
Speaker:you know, tiny in size are crucial to the environment, how they pollinate
Speaker:other plants, and we wouldn't have plants without them, that sort of thing. And then
Speaker:he connected it back to kindness in a way that kinda stopped us in our
Speaker:tracks. Kindness works the same way. It's often unnoticed, but over
Speaker:time, it transforms communities. And that became the
Speaker:perfect metaphor for our episode and our conversation with Zach,
Speaker:small, unnoticed, foundational acts of kindness. So today, we're
Speaker:gonna lean into that conversation that we had with Zach because the smallest
Speaker:acts of kindness are like bees' pollination. I mean, we're not gonna talk about
Speaker:pollination here. We're not scientists. We're not gonna get
Speaker:into the weeds of that, but you wanna kick us off with what
Speaker:your thoughts were on our conversation we just had with Zach. Yeah. There
Speaker:were so many thoughts, and in fact, it's been a lingering
Speaker:thought as I went on my day and as we're coming into
Speaker:here. I have a lot of thoughts on that, but, I did like
Speaker:the analogy with the the bumblebee, how many
Speaker:acts of kindness. You you don't get a jar of honey just because one bee
Speaker:goes to one amazing flower. It's just over and over again.
Speaker:It's continuously showing up in those small ways,
Speaker:seemingly small ways, but then also that that notion
Speaker:of we need to do this together. It's not like
Speaker:me doing a bunch of tiny acts makes all the
Speaker:difference. It's when I do it in community, when we all work
Speaker:in our strengths and and in the opportunities, when we're present in
Speaker:these places. So I think there's a lot here that we can unpack
Speaker:today. Johan, what what were some things that you were thinking
Speaker:of as you left the the podcast? Yeah. There are a few
Speaker:things, but going back to that bee analogy, we didn't talk
Speaker:about it in the episode, but I was thinking about how bees produce honey,
Speaker:not necessarily for everybody else, but it benefits
Speaker:everybody else out of their abundance of just doing what they
Speaker:do. So like the small acts of kindness,
Speaker:it can actually benefit a whole community, not just the person you're being kind
Speaker:to. It's out of that abundance of goodness and being kind to others
Speaker:that it really benefits the whole community. So that's one thought that came to
Speaker:mind that I probably could chimed in on, but, you know, you guys were riffing,
Speaker:so I don't wanna interrupt you. We never need conversation starters
Speaker:with Zach. We always have things to to talk about, which is a lot of
Speaker:fun. Another thing we really dove into was the whole idea
Speaker:of anti capitalism, thinking differently about our kindness.
Speaker:And it's not always an event that can be measured in
Speaker:grandiosity and something that's, like, flashy and wow.
Speaker:Sometimes it's fun to do those big deal things, but
Speaker:kindness can be in those little unmeasurable things. And how do you
Speaker:measure that? And the practicality that I'm sitting with is exactly
Speaker:what we were talking about with funders, with our
Speaker:donors, with the public. We
Speaker:have this need to have some measurables, and I'm not
Speaker:against that. I think what we measure matters. But how do
Speaker:we measure and how do we quantify or validate
Speaker:small acts when they can't always be measured in the
Speaker:numeric ways, maybe qualitative ways? But over
Speaker:time, we don't have necessarily an instant,
Speaker:verification that when that piece of pollen gets brought
Speaker:back to the hive, that boom that produces this amount
Speaker:of jars of honey, it is something far greater
Speaker:and long standing. And so that is something that we
Speaker:always have to to wrestle with as nonprofits,
Speaker:wanting to perpetuate good and help other people
Speaker:do small acts of kindness. And that was definitely one of
Speaker:those themes that really popped up for me was how do we measure
Speaker:kindness? Like, what's the measuring stick for that? And I see that wrestler
Speaker:you're talking with. Like, I like knowing that what I do makes an
Speaker:impact. And if you don't see it, like, maybe you'll see it
Speaker:over time, but when you don't see it right away, it's really hard to say,
Speaker:you know what? I'm really glad I did that. I see the impact when you
Speaker:haven't seen that impact. Sometimes that instant gratification motivates us.
Speaker:Right? Absolutely. But finding that
Speaker:deeper sense of calling, I think, is really important. And we talked about self
Speaker:awareness and understanding who we are made in the
Speaker:image of God and what God has called us to
Speaker:helps us helps me, anyway, show up every
Speaker:morning with a smile on my face to do hard things,
Speaker:to do it, anyway, even when we have nothing flashy on
Speaker:our website. People sometimes think, oh, you're you're the
Speaker:organization that has that care portal. You deliver beds. Well, sure,
Speaker:we we make sure that the church and the the social services and
Speaker:that family sleeping on the floor are connected in a family way in a
Speaker:very tangible way. But behind the scenes, there's so many
Speaker:other things that we're working on sitting at these tables with government,
Speaker:sitting at these denominational meetings and networking, and and
Speaker:showing up in these spaces and voicing when we need to, but often just
Speaker:listening where we haven't been creating understanding across
Speaker:these sectors. That is the hard work, and there is no
Speaker:tangible, visible things immediately. We don't
Speaker:quickly see contracts being drafted up
Speaker:and people quickly wanting to build trust. It's over at that thousand cups of coffee
Speaker:of building trust, earning that trust, but showing up
Speaker:anyway. But for me, it comes down to that
Speaker:need to lean into our calling and who God has
Speaker:created us to be in dependency on God to show up anyway,
Speaker:that the results ultimately are up to him. That's above my pay grade,
Speaker:but I can show up in faithfulness in what God has called me to
Speaker:do, and I will do it. I don't have to question the master
Speaker:on what he's up to. I know it's part of something much bigger than Care
Speaker:Impact, much bigger than myself, but that helps
Speaker:me to show up and bring that pollen in one day
Speaker:at a time. And while we're motivated by
Speaker:impact, sometimes the reality is we're not always gonna see the
Speaker:impact. That's right. The reality is sometimes when we invest, there's not gonna
Speaker:be any return on investment. Sometimes that bee gets squashed before it can make
Speaker:the honey. Right? Yeah. But I think one of the things that
Speaker:we don't see is that transformation in us when we do invest.
Speaker:When we are kind, like, what's the transformation in us? Not necessarily to
Speaker:those around us, but those small acts over and over
Speaker:again. It transforms us. And we also have to remember that Jesus,
Speaker:he gave up himself without any return. The only thing we can
Speaker:give him is our voluntary love and affection, and it's something that he doesn't even
Speaker:need. It's something he desires, but it's not something that he needs. He gave
Speaker:his whole life just for our benefit without
Speaker:having anything in return. Yeah. %. And it brings
Speaker:us back to that that passage in Matthew 25. Those small acts
Speaker:kind of when did we give you that glass of water? When did we visit
Speaker:you in your prison? These seemingly unnoticeable things in society
Speaker:that people are like, when I do that in the name of Jesus,
Speaker:it's not so that I can become a a spiritual superpower,
Speaker:but as I just show up and be who God has created me
Speaker:to be and act in kindness and in natural unseen
Speaker:ways, I encounter Christ in those
Speaker:moments. I have an encounter with Christ that
Speaker:changes me, maybe not because I went to prison and I
Speaker:volunteered one time, but it's because I keep showing up.
Speaker:It's because I keep doing what God has called me to do. And I
Speaker:think that is the challenge, not looking for that instant gratification. Oh, now
Speaker:we've gone on a mission trip, so now we've experienced Jesus and live off of
Speaker:that. It's like, no. How do we keep showing up? How do we
Speaker:see Christ in those everyday moments? And how is it changing
Speaker:and challenging us to be more like him. So let's talk a
Speaker:little bit about those small gestures versus the
Speaker:large grand gestures and the impact of
Speaker:those. I know, like, for me, like, I've been in ministry for quite
Speaker:a while, and I have to fundraise for a lot of that.
Speaker:So, like, some people decide not to give it all because
Speaker:they can't give that hundred dollars a month. They're like, well,
Speaker:I can't I can't afford a hundred dollars a month, so I'm just not gonna
Speaker:give anything because that's embarrassing to give that $10. Trying to tell
Speaker:people, you know what? Just you being behind me, that $510 a
Speaker:month, whatever you can afford, like, that means a whole lot to me. If if
Speaker:we can get a hundred people doing that, that makes a huge difference. And I
Speaker:mean, that's just a monetary example. But just thinking about those
Speaker:small gestures, how they can really add up to make a big difference. Did you
Speaker:have any thoughts on that? Yeah. Well, it immediately brings me back to scripture
Speaker:again that widow's mite. I love the irony of
Speaker:that where there's people giving these large amounts and I imagine
Speaker:them almost like the modern day big checks and and these
Speaker:political moments where we take these checks. And no offense to those
Speaker:opportunities. Those are grand moments. However, Jesus
Speaker:is is flipping the the script here and says, if
Speaker:you give like this this widow, that is what I'm
Speaker:desiring. It's in the little things, but it's also not just because, oh,
Speaker:don't don't all just give Johan two pennies now even though we don't have
Speaker:pennies or a tunie, just because, oh, it's it's so scriptural.
Speaker:But she gave of what she had, and she gave sacrificially.
Speaker:And what sacrifices for me, might be different
Speaker:than for you, Johan. For me right now in the in the lifestyle
Speaker:that I have with the family and the the dynamics that that
Speaker:I am called to right now,
Speaker:giving two hours to have a cup of coffee with somebody is
Speaker:my might. It it's something that's sacrificial. I have to adjust myself
Speaker:so that I can show up and be present in that. We can ask ourselves,
Speaker:what is not just giving out of the excess that we have,
Speaker:but what is giving even if it feels so tiny?
Speaker:What is giving sacrificially? Because we
Speaker:we want to be in those spaces. We're give God loves a
Speaker:cheerful giver. God loves when we act in justice and mercy,
Speaker:not out of compulsion, not because we have to out of
Speaker:a religious obligation. But when we come in a posture of
Speaker:generosity, it's not the dollar amount. It's not
Speaker:the big acts or the outcome that needs to be,
Speaker:like, so flashy. It's what is it that we're doing
Speaker:and what God is calling us to do and do it sacrificially.
Speaker:And sacrifice sometimes is something that we we have a hard time
Speaker:with, particularly in the middle and upper class. We can give out of
Speaker:our comfort. We can we can do things out of philanthropy,
Speaker:and that is almost an exertion of power, Yohan. Like, where I have this disposable
Speaker:time. I I can hire this. I have a vehicle. And out of
Speaker:vehicle. And out of that, I am empowered. I have this margin
Speaker:where maybe people in underprivileged capacities
Speaker:don't have that privilege to do. And so we give out of our excess, and
Speaker:we haven't really given out of sacrifice. Whereas the person that's
Speaker:living on the street and yet they still give the other person in the
Speaker:bus shelter their $5, I venture to say Jesus
Speaker:would have made a parable out of that one. And sometimes it's not
Speaker:looking at what's gonna be a sacrifice. It's just being obedient to what you feel
Speaker:the lord is asking you to do. And quite often, those two things align.
Speaker:So sometimes sacrifice and obedience are the same thing, but I don't
Speaker:wanna stand before the Lord and have
Speaker:him ask, hey, remember that time I told you to give? And
Speaker:me just say, yeah, I wasn't listening or I wasn't paying attention
Speaker:or that was gonna hurt too much. Mhmm. Like, I don't wanna be
Speaker:in that situation. So really, I don't know if it's a balanced thing
Speaker:or just having that generous heart that's willing to give to any need
Speaker:that arises. I mean, I remember how Paul said it. He's like, I
Speaker:wish I had enough to give for every good work. And
Speaker:I kinda I kinda want that mindset. It's like, if there's a good work in
Speaker:front of me, I wanna be able to give to that. I might not always
Speaker:have something monetary to give, but how can I support that good work that is
Speaker:in front of me? Yeah. And I think sometimes it's more natural
Speaker:than we think, and and we sometimes minimize what that small act
Speaker:that comes so naturally to you, Johan, what a gift it is to
Speaker:society, and how selfish it would be for us to to contain
Speaker:it. And it's almost like a false sense of humility of, like, oh, I
Speaker:little old me. I have nothing to give. But, no, you showing
Speaker:up with all that you are in obedience,
Speaker:we underestimate the impact of
Speaker:what you have to offer in those situations that might be
Speaker:the right word or the right action or the right presence
Speaker:that that other person needed, and we minimize what
Speaker:God can do through little things that
Speaker:he wants to do. And and we don't have to know the agenda that God
Speaker:he doesn't owe that to me. He asked me just to show up and to
Speaker:be present. So that should be a liberation, news for
Speaker:us, news of liberation. I I think of the quote. I just
Speaker:quickly looked it up here, from Saint Francis of Assisi
Speaker:saying, start by doing what is necessary. That thing
Speaker:in front of us that God kind of, like, nudges us and says,
Speaker:like, go help that person cross the street or whatever it is. It could be
Speaker:so random. But start by doing what is necessary, then do
Speaker:what is possible, and suddenly, you are doing the
Speaker:impossible. And this is a man of God. This is somebody that
Speaker:was surrendered unto to Christ, but saying, just start
Speaker:with doing what is necessary, then do what is possible,
Speaker:what God expands our horizons. See the loaves and fishes
Speaker:expand. I don't know. It started with loaves and fishes, and
Speaker:then suddenly you are doing the impossible. And I think sometimes we
Speaker:start off wrong. We think little old me, what could that little act
Speaker:of kindness or that posture of kindness really contribute
Speaker:to this massive situation? And we feel like
Speaker:we've minimized it. And yet, we have limited
Speaker:God for what the miracles we are a part of. Whether we see
Speaker:that before our eyes, if we ever hear of the account of what that
Speaker:meant to that stranger on the bus, we may never know.
Speaker:But let's not limit the miracles of God based out of acts
Speaker:and postures of kindness.
Speaker:And Saint Francis was I believe he was the patron saint of
Speaker:animals, So he probably knew all about the bees. He probably loved the
Speaker:bees. He probably loved the bees. And, like, we're not just
Speaker:talking about monetary gifts and acts of
Speaker:service, but the core of what we're talking about is kindness. Mhmm. And
Speaker:if you think about kindness, it's really not much of a
Speaker:sacrifice to be kind to one another. Yeah. But but you know
Speaker:what? I was left with thinking after our last episode with Zach, and we
Speaker:just didn't get there, but I'm sure I would have loved to add it into
Speaker:the conversation. So I'll put it in here, and maybe you have some some thoughts
Speaker:on it. There's a difference between kindness and being
Speaker:nice. Because I think sometimes we equate them
Speaker:as as long as I'm just being nice to people, we
Speaker:are avoiding truth telling. We are avoiding
Speaker:brave love in those situations, and nice does
Speaker:not make a ripple effect. It actually it helps to keep things
Speaker:still because we're we're scared of making a ripple effect. We're
Speaker:scared of, like, rocking the boat, and we're scared of
Speaker:offending people, and we're scared of feeling discomforted. So we're just gonna
Speaker:be nice. It's we can be avoidant with that. Whereas
Speaker:I think kindness, we can still speak the
Speaker:truth in love. We can we can still have boundaries
Speaker:without enabling people. We can care for the marginalized
Speaker:like that good Samaritan showing kindness through action,
Speaker:not just good intentions alone. It's not good
Speaker:vibes only. Like, he took action in that, and it
Speaker:is actively caring for the marginalized, not just giving a little
Speaker:token, but not looking them in the eye and being kind. Right?
Speaker:And Jesus warns against that performative kindness
Speaker:because it's sort of like the politically correct thing to do,
Speaker:maybe a virtue signaling, see, look, I I'm that person
Speaker:that that cares for fill in the blank.
Speaker:Kindness can be subtle. It doesn't have to be seen,
Speaker:but niceness can enable harm. I I think if we could
Speaker:just if I could have one message to the church, stop being so nice
Speaker:and get to the root of the issue. Stop getting so nice and
Speaker:and see the elephants in the sanctuary because that's where kindness
Speaker:can grow. But let's not just skirt around everything. And
Speaker:there's kind ways to handle truth. There's kind ways to handle
Speaker:conflict. There's kind ways to do hard things, and it's
Speaker:in subtle postures of I'm not gonna avoid it. I'm not gonna
Speaker:put my head in the sand, but we are going to choose to
Speaker:kindly work through these things. Just not saying,
Speaker:hi. How are you? Oh, good. Good. How are you? Like, that's being
Speaker:nice. Okay. My rant is over. What are your thoughts?
Speaker:Yes. That plasticky niceness that I don't think
Speaker:that is being kind. I think that's probably doing the opposite because
Speaker:kindness is speaking truth in love. Mhmm.
Speaker:And if we're avoiding the truth of of a situation, if we're avoiding
Speaker:the hard things, that's not kind. No. It's
Speaker:kindness to speak out truth so that we can journey on
Speaker:ahead in love. Well and I wonder if we come across
Speaker:in in the the church sector being nice to people comes
Speaker:across could come across a bit like a used car salesman.
Speaker:We'll we'll tell you what you wanna hear. We're gonna give you that complimentary
Speaker:gross cup of coffee. We're gonna do what we can because we wanna make the
Speaker:sale. Now if we transfer that, we wanna see that person in
Speaker:distress. We wanna see them saved. Right? But how are we
Speaker:and I'm not saying we'd be jerks about it and just, like, oh, like,
Speaker:whatever. But being truthful and honest and
Speaker:being present, it's not even just calling them out on sin. It's not
Speaker:even about that. It's creating belonging and presence and kindness
Speaker:without simply enabling so that we when we make the
Speaker:sale. And sometimes niceness can be transactional
Speaker:because we have a a a greater motive of something we want, and we think
Speaker:if we're just nice to them, then maybe they will change. I
Speaker:do believe I can sniff out a used car salesman,
Speaker:and that does not sniff like good news to me. I
Speaker:I would much rather people be honest. Let's let's bring it to the car
Speaker:analogy. I want somebody to say, you know what? This vehicle did have an
Speaker:accident. We fixed it up. However, we're gonna
Speaker:just, like, check into the motor to make sure that everything is running.
Speaker:I want them to be honest and kind. I will build trust that
Speaker:way rather than them telling me what I wanna hear. And I think that's why
Speaker:a lot of the world avoids the church because they often will
Speaker:say the church feels so fake. And they're they're
Speaker:avoiding the issues. I mean, this whole first season of Journey with Care, we talked
Speaker:about reconciliation with the indigenous people.
Speaker:And a lot of the church is avoiding that. We're just being nice and saying,
Speaker:well, that's that's all passed. That's that's not who we are now.
Speaker:But that's one of those hard issues that we need to recognize
Speaker:and speak out the truth and love so that we can move forward.
Speaker:And it's not just being nice to the indigenous people. No.
Speaker:We need to be able to sit with our discomfort to even know
Speaker:what kindness looks like. Have we asked the question,
Speaker:what would kindness look like? Right now, we're they just
Speaker:discovered the bodies, that were missing, the murdered and missing,
Speaker:the two women. They just discovered the bodies in the landfill. Now
Speaker:how how tragic for one? But what how
Speaker:what is our response in our own backyard here in Winnipeg? What what is
Speaker:the response of the church? How how are we gonna reach out
Speaker:to those aunties, their children, the people in the community that are
Speaker:most affected? How do we show kindness
Speaker:in this situation? And what is that posture? Or we just kinda
Speaker:kinda block it out and say, okay. Well, it didn't affect me.
Speaker:I feel like we we skirt around. We we can walk on the
Speaker:other side of the road, so to speak, on a lot of political issues,
Speaker:a lot of cultural issues, a lot of historical pain. And let's
Speaker:face it.
Speaker:It doesn't resolve itself because we just move on. We have to
Speaker:actually, have a posture of kindness towards
Speaker:reconciliation in the moment. It's having that cup of coffee. It's It's having that cup
Speaker:of coffee. It's having those conversations. It's going into hard
Speaker:places that make me uncomfortable, but that
Speaker:is kindness to say, what is it that I need to hear, and how
Speaker:can I respond? We don't have to be answers. We need to have a
Speaker:humble approach to that is kindness. Yeah. I wanna see
Speaker:the church come to the point where we're provoking those outside
Speaker:the church to wanna be in the church because of our kindness.
Speaker:Mhmm. And it's that's not the way it is. Like, even the parable of the
Speaker:good Samaritan that you bring up, he was not a god follower.
Speaker:Like, the good Samaritan was not a Christian in in that scenario, but
Speaker:he's the one that offered kindness. And that's the one Jesus pointed us
Speaker:to saying, look what the good Samaritan did while the priest walked
Speaker:by and did nothing. Mhmm. So, like, where can the church
Speaker:become like the good Samaritan where we're provoking others
Speaker:to wanna be part of what God's building in his kingdom?
Speaker:Yeah. And I think that is a script that's playing itself out in real
Speaker:time right now, Johan, as we're, navigating
Speaker:how do we Canadianize the care portal platform, which is a care sharing
Speaker:technology that connects a web, an ecosystem,
Speaker:it's beautiful, of service providers and churches and
Speaker:businesses to be able to collectively, care
Speaker:in meaningful ways in ways there those in community
Speaker:that are in hard places are advocating for, and we can come alongside and work
Speaker:with them. But one of the challenges that I think we come up
Speaker:against collectively as the church is not pointing out a church. It's
Speaker:it's kind of universal. Is if it's not our program,
Speaker:if it's not us initiating the kindness, is
Speaker:it meaningful? How do we track that? Because now we're
Speaker:not saying, okay. We're doing a a food bank or we're gonna provide the
Speaker:mattresses or we do a a backpack drive as if we take the
Speaker:initiative, we're actually now responsive to
Speaker:the community member that says, you know what? I'm sleeping on the floor and my
Speaker:social worker, and I need to find a solution so we
Speaker:can keep our family together. Now the church can respond
Speaker:to that, but it it's flipping the switch on
Speaker:kindness because now we're not in control. We're responsive.
Speaker:So sometimes I will have people say, well, does that youth really
Speaker:need a smartphone? I I like, I really wanna help
Speaker:them, and I feel like I'm enabling them because kids these days are
Speaker:on on phones too much. And this is a real case and scenario.
Speaker:Case in point. And yet when we talk to the social
Speaker:worker who is working deeply with this youth who is aging out of care
Speaker:and saying, you know what? This is their only way to get that job.
Speaker:It's their only way to secure that apartment. So this is the
Speaker:starting ground. So I think kindness, we have
Speaker:to release some control. When we we give something, we
Speaker:don't have to make sure that they're free of addictions. We don't have to be
Speaker:sure of how they're gonna use it. We need to release that and not look
Speaker:out at their outcomes as much as our posture to
Speaker:respond because that youth needs
Speaker:that. They should be able to voice that. And and even though it's
Speaker:vetted by by the agency, we shouldn't have to second
Speaker:guess that. We should do it. Don't let one hand know what the
Speaker:other one is giving. Hasn't to the Lord. And and I think if it was
Speaker:a modern day Matthew 25, he was saying, when did you give me a cell
Speaker:phone? Right? And yet that's what
Speaker:the posture he's he's inviting us to when we
Speaker:respond to care portal opportunities. When did we serve you?
Speaker:And that's when he will say, well done, good and faithful servant.
Speaker:You gave of what you had. You were obedient with the little. Now
Speaker:I can trust you with more. So there's a lot of
Speaker:tensions and wrestlings in this conversation, but I think we're just gonna leave it there
Speaker:and let our listeners wrestle with it. Mhmm. We'd love to hear your feedback.
Speaker:Yeah. My challenge would be, like, what does it look like to embrace kindness in
Speaker:a daily rhythm rather than a project? Mhmm. Rather than a
Speaker:specific need, what does it look like to embrace kindness in a daily
Speaker:rhythm? But we're gonna leave it at that. And now it's time for
Speaker:alright, Wendi. We are in our care lingo segment where we demystify
Speaker:these terms and phrases that we use in the caring
Speaker:circles. Today, our word is permanency
Speaker:planning. Now we had a few people chime in on the Care
Speaker:Impact podcast group, and I encourage our listeners to go
Speaker:visit and become a member so that you can also chime
Speaker:in. The word today is permanency planning. What did
Speaker:some of our group have to say? Well, we had one person
Speaker:respond. Kathy responded saying, is it coaching
Speaker:someone how to buy a house? So I guess, like,
Speaker:finding a house is like a permanent, not a a
Speaker:rental situation. So maybe coaching. That's what one person thought.
Speaker:And then my mom chimed in, and she thought it might be birth control.
Speaker:I don't know what that means. If that's the first thing that came to
Speaker:your mind and you're listening to your son's podcast, I don't know. Are you
Speaker:the youngest? I well, unless you consider the
Speaker:50 foster children that they've had. I am the physic I am the
Speaker:homemade youngest. Yes. So you you kind of ended the the
Speaker:birth order there. You were her permanency planning. It's like no more
Speaker:after after Johan. Now in true Johan
Speaker:fashion, I have two definitions that I might think what
Speaker:permanency planning means. Okay. Knowing that my
Speaker:son is almost 19 years old, you know, it's making sure your kid
Speaker:finally moves out when they're 30. This is permanency planning.
Speaker:You know, planning for them to move out before it
Speaker:gets really weird. Okay. My other definition?
Speaker:Okay. Now Danica, my
Speaker:my daughter at 25 years old,
Speaker:carefully choosing that tattoo, so that thirty
Speaker:to forty years from now, thirty to forty years, that it still looks decent.
Speaker:Like, you don't wanna get that slinky tattoo and then your skin
Speaker:starts to sag, all it. Sagging. And then all of a sudden, your slinky is
Speaker:having motion every time you walk around, you know? You don't
Speaker:want that. So you need permanency planning for your tattoos.
Speaker:And I encourage our listeners, whatever the real definition of
Speaker:permanency permanency planning is, do it for your
Speaker:tattoos for sure because no one wants to say that. Like to challenge you, Yo,
Speaker:and you should get a matching one with your daughter. That would be real bonding.
Speaker:Yeah. I don't know if I could get a tattoo. I don't know if I
Speaker:can do that. You're closer to saggy than she is.
Speaker:Exactly. Although, at least I would I would know what it looks like
Speaker:in ten years from now because it's probably already there. Yeah. Mhmm.
Speaker:Anyway, what's our real definition of permanency planning? You probably have some good insight into
Speaker:this one. Well, been around the sun a few times and,
Speaker:a few adoptions later and fostering. So permanency
Speaker:planning is often used in social service lingo when
Speaker:social workers are creating case plans for the well-being
Speaker:of children. And so it's a child centered approach in saying, what
Speaker:is in the best interest of the child? And we all know permanency,
Speaker:matters for a child, that sense of security that they are are
Speaker:in a stable living environment. And it could be,
Speaker:returning home safely from foster care so that they
Speaker:have a a plan going permanently back home. It could be a
Speaker:reunification. It could be just a prevention from families
Speaker:separating due to crisis that they they create a permanency plan.
Speaker:It could be adoption or a kinship,
Speaker:customary care placement. It can mean a lot of things, but,
Speaker:ultimately, it means how do we create stability for the well-being
Speaker:of of a child. So there you go. Permanency
Speaker:planning. Alright. There you have it. And one practical way, for permanency
Speaker:planning is getting involved with Care Portal.
Speaker:Correct? That is right. So a lot of plans
Speaker:in the works. Of course, we aren't a case management
Speaker:system. Care portal simply advocates for those needs
Speaker:that support a lot of things that we, we advocate
Speaker:for through the portal. Our churches are responding to it. And did you
Speaker:know, side note here, Johan, over a thousand children have been served on the
Speaker:portal just here in Canada so far, in this pilot.
Speaker:But majority of those are permanency planning in
Speaker:helping families, biological families
Speaker:stay together. Well, there you have it. Not only did we give you
Speaker:a definition, we gave you a way to actually get involved. So,
Speaker:head over to careimpact.ca to get more information, and we'd love to get
Speaker:that to you. And if you wanna join our Facebook podcast group, we would love
Speaker:for you to come join us there. But until next time,
Speaker:remember to stay curious. Thank you for joining
Speaker:us on Journey with Care. To get more information on weekly episodes,
Speaker:upcoming opportunities, or to connect with our community, visit
Speaker:journeywithcare.ca, or find Care Impact on Facebook and
Speaker:Instagram, or just check the show notes for these links and all the
Speaker:links related to this episode. Share your thoughts, leave us a
Speaker:message, and be part of a network of individuals journeying in faith and
Speaker:purpose. Together, let's discover how we can make a meaningful
Speaker:impact.
