Word for Word 6/21/17

Ephesians 4:32
Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
 
As I picked up my youngest from her last day of school a few weeks ago at Growing Bear, one of the other moms that was there to pick up her child came up to me as I signed out my baby from preschool and said,
“Girl, these babies have grown so much over this last year…and have you lost weight?!”

Now this woman like most could easily see the growth of any of the kids in that school since the start of the year, but she could not have known how hard I have been working to achieve my own fitness goals. And she most certainly couldn’t have known how much simply noticing would mean to me.

And yet, she said something none the less.

I laughed and said, “Well if strangers are noticing, I must be doing something right.”

And this is where the story took a turn…

She looked at me funny and responded, “Strangers?  I see you here twice a day. I wave at your daughter and she waves at my son, we exchange hellos at 8 and then again at 3. It’s like clockwork.”

And she’s right.

Those interactions have been the start of my day Monday through Thursday for the last 10 months.

They have also been the interactions that have lifted my spirits after sitting in a most often lonely church office.

The sentiment has left me thinking, as I start my day with four kids repeatedly asking me, ‘what is there to do’ now that they are not in school, that none of us are invisible.

All of us have people cheering us on that we might not even know.

This stands as a reminder to me to always encourage small successes and to take notice of the little things. To always say the words of encouragement that dance in my thoughts.  And to be kind.

Those few words of kindness mattered to me and surely they matter to most of us who hear them.

Sending love!

Pastor Samantha Houser
Zion UCC, Waukon