"So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive and offense.” Colossians 3:12-13
“Thank you ma’am.” Parker says to the man who hands him a sticker. I am beaming from ear to ear. Forget the fact that he said ma’am to a guy…he was using his manners and being kind. I know not all of our readers are from the South so I need a Northern comment to balance me out, but I love being from the South. I love to have doors opened for me and don’t mind being called ma’am by my student athletes at work. I love to show the same respect to people. I’m not trying to say you are old when I say yes ma’am or sir. I use it for everyone. I was brought up that way and I choose to raise Parker in the same manner.
But that’s not all that kindness is about. The Random Acts of Kindness or Pay It Forward movements are fantastic in my opinion. Who needs a reason to share God’s love? Teaching your children to make a conscious effort to make other people happy is what God meant by “love your neighbor.” After all, Jesus cited it as the second most important commandment for a reason…it is important to God. Many of us have trouble approaching people formally with the Gospel. But kindness takes as little or as much effort as you want to put into it.
Send an old-fashioned card to a friend for no reason…just to tell them you think they are great. Keep extra candy in your purse to offer to another child who sees your little one sucking on a yummy treat. Put a cute little note for your husband to find that reminds him why you love him. When you are finally shopping all by yourself, help the mom of 3 struggling with her groceries behind you. I love the translation above to be content with second place. So let that car out in front of you. Let someone else use the elevator while you wait. You get the picture. Kindness is not hard. It just takes a little thought. It can even become second nature if you do it enough and expect your kids to do it. So let me know if you have any good advice for instilling kindness in your little one or brightening someone else’s day yourself!
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Oops. Quick to forgive an offense.
ReplyDeleteHeather - I enjoyed your suggestions for expressing kindness. I remember that at the beginning of my relationship with Eric (before we were married), I put much more thought into how I could express kindness... now it seems that I get so busy and bogged down with the daily routine that I forget the little notes or other sweet expressions of kindness - thank you for the reminder.
ReplyDeleteOne of the many things I did enjoy about our sorority days was giving and receiving kindness from sisters. It was always so nice to get a random note of thanks or to give that note of support. In today's electronic world I think that we forget the power of a handwritten note! I encourage others to write that note today.