Lately,
I’ve been reading an assortment of articles and devotional pieces about
kindness. This strikes me personally because several months ago I felt the
Spirit nudging me to write a blog piece on kindness. I actually began my article but due to
several, unexpected family interruptions, I placed it in my writing backpack
and left it there. But, it’s now
time to retrieve it and finish it.
I cannot begin
to number all the acts of kindness that have been shown to me throughout my
life. From family, friends, church
families, colleagues, medical professionals, policemen and even total
strangers, I have received countless blessings of kindness. But one particular
act of kindness that stands forever in my mind happened to me when I was 10 years
old.
It was July and I had only been home from the hospital
a few days after an emergency appendectomy when one of my neighborhood friends
shyly entered my bedroom. Patsy, younger
than I, lived with her family in a small house to the northeast of ours. I became acquainted with her simply because
she was our neighbor and because she could play baseball!! J
However, the more I was around Patsy, I could tell she
had a lot of family responsibilities, even though she was only a kid. She couldn’t always hang out with the rest
our neighborhood gang because she had house chores plus she had to take care of
her younger siblings whenever her parents were gone. And that seemed to be
regularly. Neighborhood gossip marked her
family as drifters, not staying in one town very long as well as being poor
folk who took advantage of people. Of
course, being a youngster, I didn’t quite fully understand those remarks nor
did I care because to me Patsy was my friend, not necessarily her parents.
As she approached my bed, where I was reading a comic
book while I rested, she said she heard that I had an operation and how sorry
she was. I thanked her and motioned for
her to sit on my bed. She hesitated but
then replied that she couldn’t stay long. However, she wanted to give me a “get
well” gift. She further commented that it wasn’t much. In fact, I might not
like it. Then, she carefully handed me
two dainty, porcelain doll figurines and apologized for not having any wrapping
paper.
When I received her unexpected gift, an indescribable
warmth of affection passed through me. Her show of thoughtfulness and kindness
momentarily left me speechless. In fact, before I could even thank her, Patsy
quickly left. I looked at the two
rosy-cheeked girls, each singing. One held a song book and the other an
accordion. For a ten year old tomboy, I thought they were the prettiest
figurines I had ever seen. Strange as it may be, shortly after Patsy’s visit,
her family moved. I never saw her again. BUT to this day, the two little figurines sit upon my dresser as a
reminder of a long ago friend who gave me the greatest gift of all, her
kindness.
There’s someone else who has shown me kindness
throughout my life. I first met him when
I was a child, and he’s been by my side ever since, although at times I have
pushed him away. Nevertheless, he remains more loving and caring than I
deserve. His name is Jesus.
“And be kind to one
another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also
forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32
No comments:
Post a Comment