Kindness Returned

Kindness Returned

A man reaps what he sows.

Galatians 6:7, NIV

For the past couple of Christmas seasons, my family has made one of our acts of kindness to bring small gifts to two special ladies who work at our local grocery store. Both of the women work at the checkout counter, and without fail, they are quick to greet us, smile, and ask how we’re doing.

That first year, seeing these two women became the highlight of our shopping trip. I’d bundle up my youngest child, Eleanor, and hurry off to do our weekly shopping. As soon as we’d enter the store, the friendly clerks would warmly greet us both by name and take time to visit with us. This continued all year long, week after week. We realized what a consistent blessing they were to us and how they most likely didn’t get thanked too often for the job they did, so we thought they would be the perfect recipients for one of our acts of kindness. The kids made cards, and I bought chocolates and wrote nice thank-you notes, and then we brought our gifts to the ladies. These women were surprised by our presents and thanked us wholeheartedly while I stumbled over my words, attempting to tell them how much their kind and welcoming greetings had meant to us each week.

We planned to bring goodies to our friends at the grocery store again the next year. When Eleanor and I walked in with our gifts, one of the ladies rushed off to the employees’ break room, saying that she had something for my daughter. It was a birthday present—a couple of books—because she knew how much Eleanor liked to read. I stood stunned for just a moment, blessed by such a thoughtful gift. While Eleanor spent the rest of the grocery store trip looking through her books, I realized how easily kindness can be returned to you when you give it away.

Have you noticed how kindness begets kindness? We often reap what we sow, and as a result, kind acts can cause others to reach out with their own kind acts, creating a snowball effect and encouraging others to extend kindness.

—Kendra

— Today’s Act of Kindness —

Think of someone who has shown you kindness, and find a way to return kindness to them.