Tag: kindness

I learned how to be a mom by watching my own mom and the moms of my teenage friends. There’s no one right way to do it. I seemed to understand that from a young age, yet there were certain things that I tucked away because they made a positive impact on me. I wanted to do them someday when ... Read More

You know what I just realized? I do not know the name of the woman who delivers my mail.

Usually my mail carrier just leaves the letters in the box by the road and eventually I wander out and collect them. But every few months, she pulls her truck into my driveway and hops out to hand me a package or ... Read More

Do your thoughts ever run away from you? Do they take you to places you know are not healthy or necessary?

Maybe you’re driving and sort of zoning out and the next thing you know, you realize you’ve spent the last ten minutes worrying about whether the cable guy will show up on time– and what you’re going to do if ... Read More

Children’s hearts are precious. They love big, forgive quickly and are incredible readers of the emotions around them. Sort of like a magnet, they attract the feelings of others and wear them as their own.

Sometimes that’s good and sometimes that’s bad. It can be bad when it locks up the mind in fear and confusion, but it’s incredibly beautiful when ... Read More

Clearly I am in summertime mode, because I woke up this morning and had no idea what day it was.

Or should I be saying “is”? See? I’m losing my grip on the English language. It must be summer.

Just after I realized it’s a blog day, I came to a second realization. I have forgotten to collect stories this week to ... Read More

The hardest thing to do when I’m feeling down is the one thing I know will help me feel better. It’s not exercise or sleep or eating healthier meals.

It’s kindness.

I know when I’m at my worst, I have to get my eyes off myself and put them squarely on the needs of others.

It works. Every time.

But it doesn’t just work ... Read More

My friend’s father-in-law recently died. It came on suddenly. It wasn’t supposed to happen that way. They weren’t prepared. I wonder, when it comes to losing someone we love, if we’re ever really prepared.

The hole that’s left while we are mourning seems like an endless chasm, and yet it’s the perfect size for kindness. Kindness shown through phone calls, flowers, ... Read More

I cut the head off a fish the other day. My fingers still smell kind of peculiar.

I wouldn’t exactly call butchering a helpless, flopping fish my kindest act ever, but I had a good reason.

We wanted to eat it.

Last December, Saul and I bought a sad little lake cabin. It desperately wanted to be brought back to life, so little ... Read More

I’ve never been described as a gentle person. At least not to my face, and I’m not sure that’s one of the words that comes up behind my back.

Bold. Direct. Bossy. Brave. Maybe even energetic.

But gentle? No.

We are in the process of memorizing a weekly verse together. Actually it’s a paragraph I’m breaking into verses because my brain likes bite-sized ... Read More

They say what goes around comes around. If you consistently treat others with kindness, you can expect to have a pretty big kindness bank account to draw from when life throws you a curveball.

I’ve seen it happen again and again in my own life, and so has Mary Derosier from Red Lake Falls, Minn., although she and her mom were ... Read More