A kindness given...

Kindness is the oil that takes the friction out of life.

Bible text: But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and faithfulness. (Galatians 5:22 NIV).


After two years of marriage, Pete no longer saw his wife as interesting, fun, or attractive. In his mind, he regarded her as a sloppy housekeeper, overweight, and a woman with a faultfinding personality. He sought out a divorce attorney, who advised him: "Pete, if you really want to get even with your wife, start treating her like a queen! Do everything in your power to serve her, please her, and make her feel special. Then, after a couple of months of this royal treatment, pack your bags and leave. That way you?ll disappoint her as much as she has disappointed you." Pete could hardly wait to enact the plan! He picked up a dozen roses on his way home, helped his wife with the dinner dishes, brought her breakfast in bed, and began complimenting her on her clothes, cooking, and housekeeping. He treated her to an out-of-town trip.

After three months, the attorney called and said, "Well, I have the divorce papers ready for you to sign. In a matter of minutes, you can be a happy bachelor."

"Are you crazy?" Pete said. "My wife has made so many changes. I wouldn?t think of divorcing her now."

Kindness extended toward another person may not change the other person, but it does change the person showing kindness? it makes them kinder!

Always holding somebody up...

The heart is the happiest when it beats for others.

Bible text: Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13 NIV).

One of the people most admired by Charles Swindoll is
Dawson Trotman, who died after helping to rescue two drowning girls. Says Swindoll:

"When Dawson Trotman passed away he probably left a legacy of discipleship on this earth that will never be matched except perhaps in the life of Jesus Christ Himself. I've become a real student of Dawson Trotman and believe wholeheartedly in the methods of discipleship that he taught and emulated throughout his days. He died in Schroon Lake, New York. He died of all things in the midst of an area that he was expert in - he drowned. He was an expert swimmer. The last few moments he had in the water he lifted one girl out of the water. He went down and got the other girl and lifted her out of the water and then submerged and was not found again until the dragnet found him a few hours later... Time ran an article on Trotman's life the next week, and they put a caption beneath his name, and it read, 'Always Holding Somebody Up.' In one sentence, that was Trotman's life - investment in people... holding them up."

Discipleship is not having others follow you as much as it is lifting others up to see the Lord and then serving them so they can follow Him wholeheartedly.

It is a matter of commitment

Thought: The secret of achievement is to not let what you're doing get to you before you get to it.

Biblical text: "Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed." (Proverbs 16:3)

Jane was only seven years old when she visited a shabby street in a nearby town, and seeing ragged children there, announced that she wanted to build a big house so poor children will have a place to play. As a young adult, Jane and a friend, Ellen Starr, visited Toynbee Hall in London, where they saw educated people helping the poor by living among them. She and Ellen returned to the slums of Chicago, restored the old Hull mansion, and moved in! There they cared for children of working mothers, and held sewing and cooking classes. Older boys and girls had clubs at the mansion. An art gallery, playground, and public music, reading, and craft rooms were crafted in the mansion. Her childhood dream came true!

Jane fought against child labour laws and campaigned for adult education, day nurseries, better housing, and women's suffrage. She eventually was awarded an honorary degree from Yale, was called "America's most useful citizen" by President Theodore Roosevelt, and was given the Nobel Prize for Peace.

No matter how famous she became Jane Addams remained a resident of Hull House. She died a resident of Halsted Street in the heart of the slum she had come to call home.

Keep on faithing on

Thought: Feed your faith, and your doubts will starve to death.

Biblical text: "But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul." (Hebrews 10:39)

Richard E. Byrd spent winter of 1934 at Bolling Advance Weather Base in Antarctica, where the temperature ranged from -58˚ to -76˚ F. By the time he was rescued, he was suffering from frostbite and carbon monoxide poisoning.

He wrote in his book, "Alone" the following passage:
"I had hardly strength to move. I clung to the sleeping bag, which was the only source of comfort and warmth left to me and mournfully debated the little that might be done. Two facts stood clear. One was that my chances of recovering were slim. The other was that in my weakness I was incapable of taking care of myself. But you must have faith. "You must have faith in the outcome, I whispered to myself". It is like a flight into another unknown. You start and you cannot turn back. You must go on, trusting your instruments, the course you have plotted."

With faith as his only guidance system, Byrd forced himself to do the necessary things for survival very slowly and with great deliberation. At times he felt as if he was living a thousand years in any given minute. But at each day's end, he could say he was still alive. And that was enough.

Some times the only thing left to do in a situation is to press on in faith. And so press on!