A little kindness goes a long way
- Amber Miller: A Word of Truth
- May 31, 2018
- 1816
In a world that is filled with so much evil and hatred, we should be asking ourselves as Christians how we can be a light in the darkness. How can we be used by God to allow his love and kindness to flow from us to touch others? It doesn’t take huge acts because it is often the little things that impact people the most.
I want to share some stories of ways little acts of kindness from little people (children) made a big difference.
Let’s start with Kory. That is his real name as are the others in this column because I want to publicly acknowledge them for their kindness. Kory is a fourth-grader and goes to the same school as my boys. My older sons are friends with him, and he has come over to our house before. Kory loves sports like my boys do, and inevitably a game of wiffle ball is played while he is here.
Last year after Kory was at our house and we took him home, my youngest son Braxton said to me, “Kory is kind.”
He was only 5 at the time, and it was spoken with such sincerity from his little heart. “Yes, he is kind,” I said, “but what makes you say that? What did he do?”
“He cheered for me when we played wiffle ball. He said, 'Way to go Braxton.'”
That about melted my heart. The simple act of this older boy cheering for this much younger child made a profound impact on him. It made him feel good that a “big boy” would make the effort to cheer for him and call him by name.
This wasn’t a one-time exhibition of kindness from Kory either. Just this year the same thing happened again as our boys were all playing ball at the park with Kory and some others. As we were leaving, Braxton told me, “Kory is nice.”
Kory, keep doing what you are doing. Your kindness is making a difference in the life of my little guy and I’m sure others as well.
The next act comes in the way of Parker. Parker is a sweet first-grader with a kind, soft heart. My husband and I are coaching Braxton’s baseball team this year, and Parker is a member of it.
The other day at the end of our game, our catcher took a ball that got past his shin guards and caught him on the leg. He was crying because it hurt, and I was trying to console him, but it didn’t seem to do much good.
What did Parker do? He put his arm around him like a good friend would do and simply walked with him. It was one of the sweetest, purest forms of kindness that I’ve ever seen. Thankfully Parker’s mom was there to catch his act. Nothing like that to make a momma proud.
As a kid I pretty much knew everyone who lived in our little town of Baltic, including adults. There was one woman who lived alone and didn’t have any kids or family that I knew of. She kept to herself as far as I could tell, but I knew who she was.
One day I passed her on the street and told her hi and called her by name. She stopped and looked at me in astonishment and proclaimed, “You know my name?” I think she was used to being passed by, and the fact that someone said hi and called her by name made her feel special.
Who doesn’t want to be called by name? Remember the song from Cheers, “You want to go where everybody knows your name?” There is something about being addressed by name and not just the standard “hi” that resonates on the inside of us.
Brooklyn is a sweet sixth-grader whose brother plays on my sons’ baseball team, and whenever she sees me, she always says, “Hi Amber,” with a smile. Linkin is a friendly first-grader who does that too.
And you know what? It may sound strange coming from a 40-year-old woman, but it makes me feel good, even a bit special, when they do that. They are saying hi to me because they want to, not because they have to. What a small, seemingly insignificant act that can brighten someone’s day. I know it does mine.
So you see, it doesn’t take a huge act to make a big difference. I would encourage you to ask the Holy Spirit to show you simple ways that you can impart kindness into people’s lives and for the opportunities to do so.
Look for ways to be a blessing to others and brighten their day. Then thank God for the privilege of being able to be used by him to allow his kindness to flow out of you and into others.
Amber can be reached at amberdeemiller32@gmail.com or through her AmberRiceMiller Facebook page.