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Hello, Reader.

Although this week's link list is a little late for Random Acts of Kindness Day (which was Monday), I think that's a holiday that deserves to be celebrated all year long (kind of like Valentine's Day). Love and kindness both serve to make the world a better place, so let's take every opportunity to share them with the people around us.

I've been the beneficiary of such tokens of affection a lot lately, as SO MANY people have reached out with love and prayers and concern, sending helpful information and heartfelt encouragement, bringing food and flowers, sharing their own inspiring stories of beating cancer or their profound grief over losing loved ones to it.

God has been so kind, too. My surgery went beautifully -- clear margins and cancer in only two of eight lymph nodes taken. I've healed well and feel mostly back to normal. I'll see my surgeon for a post-op visit this afternoon and follow up with my oncologist sometime after that. Still not sure what next steps will entail, but will keep you posted. In the meantime, enjoy this week's link list!

Free resources for you this week:

• ​Encouraging Kindness in Kids - these punch cards will help you "catch" your kids being kind
• ​10 Nice Things I Can Do - a good exercise for kids and grownups alike
• ​How to Apologize - because no matter how kind you are, you'll occasionally mess up
• ​Kindness from Heaven Coloring Page - God's kindness to us inspires our kindness to others
• ​Quiet & Generous Kindness - these copy work pages feature Matthew 6:2
• ​Generous Souls Prosper Coloring Page - "and he who refreshes others will also be refreshed."
• ​Thai Life Insurance Commercial - keep tissues handy if you watch this 3-min film on kindness

What I'm reading this week:

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★★★ Amazon suggested The Universe in Verse as a book I might like, and they were (mostly) right. As somebody who loves science, poetry, obscure historical vignettes, and beautiful artwork, I found the idea of melding all these elements into a single volume intriguing. But reading Popova stirred in me a profound sadness, as well. Marveling over creation without mentioning the Creator misses the point entirely. The author does a decent job of describing more than a dozen intricately designed systems, but credits their development not to an infinite Designer, but to evolution and chance.

This week's reader's request:

Over the years, I've received multiple requests for a Prayer for Singles -- from mothers with single daughters who long to be married, from the singles themselves, from their supportive friends, from parents with single sons who don't know where to start praying for them, etc.

So this week, I finally posted a Bible-based prayer that includes many of the same requests my husband and I pray over our own single kids. May God honor and answer all these prayers!

On the podcast this week:

Loving Life at Home: Episode 76 ​A PLEA FOR PERSEVERANCE​ Valentine's Day aside, our most telling declarations of love aren’t made on February 14th. They are made in the days and weeks and months that follow. ​ Listen Now

Progress on last week's goals:

I only finished half my to-do list last week: I ✅ wrote six thank you notes, ✅ fixed my broken lamp, ✅ walked five miles, ✅ painted new lines on an old measuring cup, and ✅ wrote one (❌ not three) more days of a new 30-day challenge.

But I ended up going out of town over the weekend, so I didn't ❌ make 4 new pillow cases, ❌ repair the boys' broken towel rack, or ❌ catch up on grading math (my grandkids keep taking their math folders home with them), so I'm carrying those goals over to next week.

Personal goals for this week:

• switch out Valentine's for springtime decor
• grade math
• sew pillowcases
• fix towel rack
• walk 6 miles
• record an interview with Miriam Margolyes, my English atheist friend (please pray God directs this conversation and helps me speak truth in love ❤️)