"That best portion of a good man's life, his little, nameless,
unremembered acts of kindness & of love." - Wm Wordsworth
I know that the idea of random kindness is not a new idea. In fact, it seems like it was trending for a while a few years ago. Yet, lately my thoughts have been more and more consumed with questions like, "How can I make a difference?" or "How can I truly love people like God loves people?" To be honest, loving people is not always easy and it's rarely convenient. Loving people takes moment by moment conscious decisions, and some days... that's just hard. The attributes of Love according to 1 Corinthians chapter 13 are not the watered down self-serving love that's often painted by our modern culture. Yet, this is the kind of love that Jesus has said we should emulate.
About a month ago, I stumbled across an article in a magazine that told about a lady who was making random acts of kindness a lifestyle. She initially began doing "kindness missions" as a way to cheer herself up after moving to a new town, and she made sure that she involved her young children in the process and over the years this has instilled a lifestyle of kindness in them. I was absolutely fascinated by the entire idea, so I found her blog and read for hours about all of the creative ways that her family was showing love to their world. I decided that it was something I had to try so I picked a relatively easy project, and the next day I secretly went about my day performing my little kindness mission. The funny thing was, even though it was the dreariest day of the week and I had picked the easiest project on the list, I felt excited again about the possibility of making a difference in someone's life.
I'm finding that if I were to wait around for one larger-than-life moment to impact my world, that moment isn't going to come. However, there are millions of opportunities each day to show the people around us that they are valuable and loved. So, in an effort to continue to challenge myself to be conscious of those around me, I will be periodically posting ideas and opportunities to show kindness. I would love it if you would join me in these missions.
I'm finding that if I were to wait around for one larger-than-life moment to impact my world, that moment isn't going to come. However, there are millions of opportunities each day to show the people around us that they are valuable and loved. So, in an effort to continue to challenge myself to be conscious of those around me, I will be periodically posting ideas and opportunities to show kindness. I would love it if you would join me in these missions.
Here is just a quick example of how the acts of kindness can truly make someone feel good. I have been down from a recent surgery and received an unexpected visit from a friend. It truly blessed me! I realize how busy people are with work and family, so I didn't expect any visits or calls. The visit was short and sweet, but meant so much to me! A gift would not have meant as much as that little visit did. It's not the cost or value of the object or the length of the visit, it's the thought! It would have been easy for her to find an excuse to not come, but she came anyway. Thank you for the reminder!
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