A few days ago, Tyler Merritt posted this short video. (Yes — that Tyler. My boyfriend. And yes, I’m biased, but also not biased because the man drops truth like it’s his full-time job.)
In his beautiful way, he reminded us that sometimes life is heavy and gorgeous at the same time. And then he asked this simple question:
“How are you loving today?”
So I shared that question with our community, and y’all — you showed up. You showed up with tenderness. With honesty. With small gestures that somehow felt enormous. With big-hearted acts that reminded me, again, that hope isn’t theoretical. It’s lived. It’s practiced. It’s baked, delivered, texted, prayed, and shown up for.
This community offered so many ways you’re loving your people this week — and honestly, reading through them just undid me.
These tiny, ordinary moments of care somehow manage to feel like miracles.They are the kind of small, consistent acts that keep the world soft and tender. Love is almost always found in the ordinary. And yet? It’s extraordinary in how it heals and how it gives hope.
In a week that’s centered on gratitude, I hope you feel inspired by these glimpses into how we can show love — small and big and all incredibly meaningful.
Here’s what you shared:
Caring for Family, Kids & Loved Ones
- Having a friend over for dinner.
- Caring for a parent in the hospital after a heart attack.
- Making a cozy meal for my adult kids and filling the kitchen with love.
- Giving hugs.
- Saying “I love you” out loud — because sometimes people need to hear it.
- Playing air hockey with my son until we both laughed ourselves silly.
- Making photo books for my grandkids.
- Getting ready to host Thanksgiving.
- Cooking for someone in need.
- Cooking for a couple with a new baby.
- Being fully present with my family.
- Sharing dinner with my sister.
- Driving across the country to spend Thanksgiving with my daughter.
- Making Sunday dinner for the family.
- Making time for an old friend.
- Feeding my family well this week.
- Celebrating my grandson’s first birthday with so much love.
- Watching my sister’s babies so she could get a breather.
- Sitting with a friend whose daughter was just diagnosed with cancer — just being there.
- Enjoying all my kids (grown and “still home”) together under one roof.
- Making diabetic-friendly recipes for my husband.
- Creating a clean, cozy, nostalgic home for my kids for the holidays.
- Making dinner for my family and planning for the holiday week.
- Choosing family time even when it’s not my favorite activity.
- Saying yes to impromptu playdates for my kids.
- Building a fire for my cold boys who were cleaning the yard.
- Leaving an “I love you” note for my niece.
- Making lefse for a friend because it’s his comfort food.
- Hosting teens for a little Friendsgiving.
- Moving my stepdad close and caring for him after losing my mom this year.
- Cooking a meal for my love.
- Quality time with my grown kids and grandbaby — lunch and ice cream.
- Choosing playfulness with my son instead of frustration.
- Traveling to cheer for my son in his first marathon.
- Spending time with my aging parents.
- Taking in a couple of “bonus kids” while their mom is hospitalized.
- Making brownies for my 96-year-old in-laws.
- Taking my mom out to lunch.
- Sending encouraging texts to my husband.
- Repairing a relationship and sharing Thanksgiving with in-laws after 12 years.
Loving Neighbors & Community
- Fulfilling Christmas wishes on a local Angel Tree.
- Packing bags for hurricane victims in Jamaica.
- Checking in on a neighbor who is ill and has no nearby family.
- Looking for ways to be helpful while out in public.
- Buying gifts for a child at my school so her parents have something to give her.
- Packing a book bag with school supplies for a child in Guatemala.
- Encouraging a lonely neighbor.
- Handing out cards to strangers that say, “I’m glad you’re part of our community.”
- Delivering final exam care packages to friends’ college kids.
- Buying red bows for neighborhood lampposts, which delighted our elderly neighbors.
- Providing Thanksgiving groceries for 25 families in need.
- Volunteering at an animal sanctuary.
- Packing hundreds of bags of feminine hygiene products for shelters.
- Cooking for sick friends and family members who go above and beyond.
- Filling Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes.
- Bringing homemade snacks to work to share.
Friendship, Connection & Showing Up
- Texting well wishes to longtime friends and family.
- Reaching out first to a friend for a walk.
- Forgiving easily.
- Offering words of affirmation.
- Writing handwritten cards that name the beauty and truth I see in others.
- Sending fun mail to girlfriends.
- Making time for an old friend.
- Noticing small places of care — a DM to someone grieving, helping before being asked.
- Leaning into tension with curiosity instead of judgment.
- Writing thank-you cards.
- Thanking people wherever I go.
- Accepting a loved one exactly as they are.
- Texting a longtime friend on his milestone birthday.
Simple Kindness to THOSE WE ENCOUNTER
- Remembering and calling people by their actual name, with intention.
- Praying for someone.
- Leaving a cooler of snacks and water out for delivery drivers.
- Asking for service workers’ names and having meaningful little conversations.
- Being kind to TSA agents and fellow travelers.
Service, Volunteering & Generosity
- Baking over 100 mini pumpkin loaves for the soup kitchen.
- Organizing Thanksgiving food assignments for the family.
- Delivering dinner and cookies to a friend recovering from surgery.
- Practicing patience when I don’t want to.
Creativity, Joy & Tiny Everyday Love
- Making photo books for my grandkids.
- Baking pumpkin bread for neighbors.
- Baking pumpkin biscuits with orange honey butter — for myself.
- Exploring a new place alone and finding joy in a simple cup of coffee.
Self-Love & Soul Care
- Allowing myself to rest.
- Loving my future self by deep cleaning so I can relax later.
- Practicing self-love by slowing down and resting when my body demanded it.
- Being kinder to myself.
- Listening to my body and not pushing it past its limits.
- Letting myself love the life I’m building post-divorce — including a paint party with friends.
- Trying to love God first, then myself, then everyone around me.
Holiday Love
- Getting ready to host Thanksgiving.
- Making dinner for my family and planning for the holiday week.
- Asking this question at the Thanksgiving table instead of “What are you thankful for?”
None of this is flashy. None of it is performative. It’s just love, practiced in kitchens and driveways and grocery stores and hospitals and quiet hearts. And isn’t that the real stuff? The kind that holds a whole world together?
Your words reminded me that goodness is not rare. It’s everywhere.
It’s you. It’s us.
It’s the faithful, ordinary ways we keep tending to one another.
So here’s to more of this.
More gentleness. More courage. More noticing.
More tiny, steady acts of care that stitch us back together.