the extending of kindness

“𝐿𝑖𝑓𝑒’𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑢𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑠, ‘𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠?’” -Dʀ. Mᴀʀᴛɪɴ L. Kɪɴɢ, Jʀ.

⁣𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐠𝐞. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭. But, when women support women, amazing things can happen.

⁣Tʜɪs ɪs ᴍᴇ ᴀɴᴅ “Mʀs. Cʟᴀᴜs”. You see, there’s this beautifully restored theatre house in our area and yearly(prior to covid) they put on a Christmas movie and bicycle giveaway for the community. We’d been standing in line for our candy cane and pictures when I heard this calming voice sitting on the steps speaking peace over a young girl’s sniffles.

⁣The girl’s heart was weeping over not being the winner of a bicycle that morning and Mrs. Claus was showing her how to not ignore the sadness, but how to graciously walk through it. They sat on those steps a good ten minutes, the girl’s mama standing by in awe and gratitude of this jolly woman’s tenderness for her girl.

⁣It took just ten minutes of Mrs. Claus’s day to turn sadness into a smile. She sat with her in that sadness and walked her back to joy. She never shamed her or told her that feelings were not okay.

⁣🎁𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞-𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑒.

⁣I learned a valuable lesson that morning-stopping and sitting with someone through their heart aching won’t stop the ache; but, it can go a long way in the person knowing 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦’𝑟𝑒 𝑁𝐸𝑉𝐸𝑅 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑘 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒.