Try A Little Kindness
About eight inches of snow fell on Bittersweet Farm through the night on Monday and into Tuesday morning. The sky cleared by Tuesday morning and the sun was bright on the snow. I spent a couple hours plowing and shoveling and playing around on my tractor.
When I shut down the tractor I could hear the birds twittering, almost as if they were chattering about the arrival of spring. Maybe they were hoping I would get around to filling the feeder with black oil sunflower seeds. They know that it is a mistake to allow yourself to long for spring too soon in these parts.
While I was out there the county plow came by and blew up our mail box. I called the county road department and thanked them for their diligent work in such dangerous conditions. I told them about the mail box and asked what I should do. The lady at the county office promised to dispatch someone out after the storm to repair or replace it. She said she was going to “create a ticket.” That sounded good but friends told me not to expect too much.
This afternoon the men who had been clearing a major snowfall yesterday returned and replaced our mailbox. Now we have a brand new mailbox out there on the road, about 24 hours after the old one was damaged. I’m sure Lois will paint it and decorate it this spring when the weather warms again.
I believe when you are kind people are more willing to help you. I know there are dishonest people and cruel people and lazy people and even some demonic people we will encounter. Still I believe that kindness is the way of Jesus. Even if you don’t get what you want you don’t darken your soul and tarnish your testimony by being rough with people God created and loves.
There are times to be direct and stern and prophetic, but for my out-of-the-box, day-to-day attitude, I try to lead with kindness, thanksgiving, civility, and human warmth. That way, I think maybe, you tend to nudge every one you meet every day just a little closer to Jesus and they are almost always more eager to help you with your troubles.
Bittersweet Farm
February 17, 2021
Check out this brief clip from Sunday’s message at Bethel:
