Keep it Going
Kindness is contagious. One small act trickles on, creating a series of events that keep on keeping on. It has the potential to be life-changing.
Before Christmas, Ben and I got to go to a Christmas party for a local foster care agency. While it was loud, with kids running everywhere, amped up on sugar, it was enjoyable. Seeing kiddos having fun and experiencing the season is heart-warming. A reminder of what is important through their eyes.
As the party came to a close, I watched the kiddos in attendance receive gifts from local families and individuals. The excitement was beyond top-notch. Kids were ecstatic and rightfully so.
I came around a corner and had to catch myself from blubbering tears. A young boy, maybe around ten years old, was given a bicycle. He couldn’t stop smiling, and his eyes were huge, taking in the new bike. He kept asking, “Is this mine?” When he realized he was taking the bicycle home, he couldn’t take his arm off the handlebars. With immense joy, he kept saying over and over, “I got a bike! I got a bike!”
Words just don’t do justice to this experience. It was humbling to experience. A reminder that we don’t know how much something can be a blessing to someone else.
To see the world like a child is a blessing. It’s seeing the good despite all the bad. It’s being appreciative and living with gratitude. It’s a feeling of “wow” when taking it all in. They don’t just pass by moments; kids treasure them. Sure, children may be active and busy, but they live with a childlike wonder and awe that I, myself, want to experience too.
I don’t want to let the moments pass me by. I want to appreciate the ordinary. I want to pass along kindness. I want to radiate joy. What about you?
Every day, we have opportunities to spread kindness to those around us. Moments to cherish instead of letting life pass us by. I want to extend the love of Jesus to those I come into contact with. I hope I appreciate life’s greatest blessings as much as that small child radiated joy over his bike. God has truly blessed us so much.
Matthew 18: 1-11
About that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?”
Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.
“And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me. But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to have a large millstone tied around your neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea.
“What sorrow awaits the world, because it tempts people to sin. Temptations are inevitable, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting. So if your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one hand or one foot than to be thrown into eternal fire with both of your hands and feet. And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.
“Beware that you don’t look down on any of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly Father.
