Thursday, March 9 Lent Calendar* Invite: Do an act of kindness that helps a coworker or a classmate or someone close.
It has become cliche: “random acts of kindness.” Sometimes that phrase has been so overused that kindness has lost its genuine sincerity. I also find that most of the time when I hear the phrase, it means something kind we do to a stranger.
I am all for extending kindness to strangers, but today the Lent invite is to do something kind for someone close to you. We get lost in our daily routines. We run on hamster wheels. It is easy to take the people in our closest circles for granted. Yet how refreshing it is when an unexpected kindness comes into our day from the people we live and work with.
A couple weeks ago, my younger son came through the door with a bouquet of flowers. I assumed they were for his girlfriend. However, he handed them to me. I was completely taken by surprise. He doesn’t typically bring me flowers. It wasn’t my birthday. He did it just because. His kindness made my day.
When checking my staff mail box a few months ago, someone had left me a children’s book with an encouraging sticky note unsigned by the giver. I am almost certain it was a colleague. I had had a busy and tiring day. When I picked up this little gift of kindness, it was an energy boost.
We have a kind God who calls us to be kind. My prayer for you this day is that your kindness will be sincere and that as you surprise someone with a word of encouragement or a small gift or an act of service, that the kindness will just keep growing.
Note… tomorrow’s Lent invite is about being creative like our creative God, so you might want to think about getting some paints or sketching pencils or yarn or whittling tools or art books, etc, so you are ready to go.