By June Mathews
When a college friend calls from a two-hour drive away and says, “I’m in the emergency room. My cancer’s come back,” how do you respond?
If you’re Jennifer Hallman, you say, “I’m on my way,” and begin gathering items that might be useful under the circumstances: a soft blanket, fuzzy socks, essential oils. But she felt like something was missing.
“My Bible was sitting right there,” said Hallman. “So, I picked it up and brought it along. That was out of the ordinary for me, but I had a strong feeling I was supposed to do that, so I did.”
As they sat together later that evening, Hallman sought to calm Juliet Dobbs, who was in a lot of pain and having difficulty breathing. So Hallman picked up the Bible she had brought from home, opened it and began to read. The verse she randomly selected was Jeremiah 29:11, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declared the Lord.”
As it turned out, the verse was Dobbs’ favorite. Now it had a special meaning for Hallman, too.
“From that day on, there’s been a conviction in my heart like I’ve never felt before to spread kindness everywhere I go to every single person I encounter,” Hallman said.
The seed for a project to encourage kindness was planted.
During a subsequent trip to the ER at UAB followed by a five-day stay, Dobbs was told by her doctors that she was qualified for a clinical trial at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
“Her cancer had not responded very well to chemo, so the clinical trial was her best option,” said Hallman, who began making plans to accompany her friend to Texas in October.
The Drive Toward Sunrise
In the meantime, Hallman, for some unknown reason, started rising before the sun every day.
“That’s when I discovered sunrises,” she said. “I had never taken the time to watch the sun rise and see how suddenly the colors appear.”
As the trip to Houston neared, the idea of painting encouragement cards began to take shape.
“I wanted to make something to give to everyone we would come into contact with on our trip – an encouragement for them, and a way of possibly opening doors for Juliet,” Hallman said. “So I took some little scripture cards I’d bought, put them on pieces of cardstock and painted them. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I painted the sunrise.”
She first used shades of purple since those were Dobbs’ favorite colors. They were also colors Hallman had noticed in the sunrises she saw.
“I painted 40 cards, put scripture on them and handwrote short notes like ‘Be kind,’ ‘Love all,” and ‘God loves you’ on the back,” she said.
Once Hallman and Dobbs arrived in Houston and began handing the cards out, they realized the effect the little cards were having was huge.
“People come to Houston from around the world. They don’t know anybody, and they are alone,” Hallman said. “So handing someone a card creates a small connection with another human being.”
One of the first people to receive a kindness card was a bartender working near MD Anderson, who she said always keeps it nearby. A receptionist at the hospital even started a collection.
“I’d give her a card every time I’d go, and she’s so proud of them that she’s put them in frames and they’re right there for everyone to see when they check in,” Hallman said. “It’s neat to see the cards all over the place like that.”
The initial batch of cards was soon gone, so Hallman located an art supply store not far from the hospital and purchased enough supplies to create 1,500 more cards. She returned to her hotel room and got down to business, using an ironing board as her workstation. Almost as quickly as she painted new cards, they were given out.
Spread the Message
Once she returned home from that first trip to MD Anderson, Hallman located a source for batches of 1,000 cards in Birmingham and continued painting. She found people are as receptive to the cards in Birmingham as they were in Houston. But she soon realized that to spread the cards as far and wide as she envisioned, she’d need help.
“I can’t paint enough of them, but I’ve honed a process that I can teach to anybody,” she said. “It’s therapeutic. There’s a lot of darkness and sadness in the world right now, and people have forgotten how to be colorful.”
Hallman recently taught a class of second graders how to paint the cards and will soon paint with a friend’s father who is battling Parkinson’s disease. But her biggest plan for encouraging others to join in the kindness effort is to provide a place where she can produce cards more efficiently, and people can come paint with her.
“I rented an office in Office Park with two little rooms, which I basically outgrew before I moved in,” she said, “but I’m able to do 80 or 90 cards in a morning.”
And even though she’s going through paint and cards “like crazy,” husband Gene is supportive and has yet to mention how much she’s spending on supplies only to give all the cards away – and to strangers, at that.
“It’s hard to walk up to a stranger and give him a piece of art. It takes you out of your comfort zone. But then they flip it over and they’re like, ‘Wow, thank you!’ and all of a sudden, they’re talking with you,” she said. “It’s just one tiny thing, but it’s like God is saying, ‘I’m here for you and here’s a physical reminder that I will always be faithful.’ The whole thing has just been really amazing.”
