I really don't think there's anyone who doesn't start to get nostalgic this time of year. You feel the crisp air, you know that another summer has slipped away and somehow you just can't help slipping back to another fall that changed your life or just felt the same in some way. We sat at Golden Ponds feeding the ducks stale bread today and somehow I traveled back to the trailing end of farmers market in Mantorville when we lived in Kasson. The kids played at the park while I junk shopped, got some random preserves or squash from the vendors and let the old ladies oogle Nick in a sling. It was so calm. I always felt so relaxed at that park just like today as I tried to toss my stale bread pieces to the furthest duck and for once just sat and stared at what the ducks looked like instead of my kids. Most of the time I'm watching them to try and memorize their movements, their expressions, their size, their mispronunciations, their new skills or their unaware adorableness. I'm glad I spend most of my time doing that but there is something very relaxing about staring at a ducks face and thinking he has a joker smile or discussing which one everyone thinks is the prettiest. It's just free.
The sermon this week at church was on kindness. He preached from Luke 4 and even read the verse where Jesus tells us to pray for those who hurt you. It hit me deep. I was hurt by someone recently and to be called so specifically to pray for them was good but intense. I walked out of that service with a renewed determination to show kindness to people. I've found several opportunities to show kindness to people who are very different from me which I did purposefully and it seems like I just enjoy being kind to people more when I do it with such purpose but I don't know why.
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