Let's be MAKERS.

    I think I’ve said this before, but sometimes, when I’m taking Pastor Bobby’s sermon notes and transferring them to the slides for the service screens on Sundays, I have a moment where I read something and make this weird, “hmph” noise. It’s a noise that I make when I read or hear something that hits me in the gut. A noise that makes my brain say, “hey, this is important for you to hear” or “hey, that’s such a truth.” Last week, it was a slide that said, “Small lights have a way of being seen in a dark world.”

    I’m a big believer in small acts of kindness. I don’t even mean things like paying for the person in front of you in the drive thru line at Dunkin’ Donuts or even handing some spare change to someone who is a few cents short in line at the grocery store. I’m talking about something even smaller than that, like smiling at someone, letting someone over in traffic, saying “good morning” to a passing stranger when you’re on your morning walk or run–the really, really minuscule, tiny stuff. The bigger stuff is great, don’t get me wrong, but the really small stuff, when it happens for me, restores some of my faith in humanity. And really, on the giving end, those things don’t take any time, money or even really a millisecond to complete.

    I was thinking about this today while doing laundry because this morning, I just had a small conversation reminding our oldest son about choosing kindness. Luckily, he does this on a pretty regular basis without prompting or reminding, but the Monday morning following a huge loss for one of his favorite teacher’s teams, prompted me to just remind him to be a good sport and remind him that if someone else tried to razz him, to step in and stop it (this goes beyond just being a sports fan, it’s part of this particular teacher’s family history, so it’s bigger than just teasing someone to me).

    It got me thinking that even harder and even more important than being kind, is choosing to not be mean. I know, it’s kind of the same thing, but there really is a difference. Choosing kindness can come easier than choosing to NOT say the first thing that comes to your mind. It’s easier to just be kind than to STOP yourself from being unkind. Does that make sense? It does to me. It’s just like the difference between praying when things are going great, versus praying through struggle. Sometimes the latter is difficult, but it is necessary.

    As Christians especially, we’re expected not just to be kind, to reach out to those in need, to help others and to share the Gospel, we’re required to forgive. To make the right, kind, choices when it’s not easy. To say “yes” when others would say “no” and to say “no” when others would say “yes (I know I’ve said this before, but it’s important, so I’m saying it again).”

    Choosing not to be mean, judgmental, unforgiving, etc. is hard sometimes. Just remember that quote from Sunday’s sermon, “Small lights have a way of being seen in a dark world.” Big or small, the interactions with others, whether initial or as a reaction to something else, matter. They can make or break someone. Let’s be makers, not breakers.