Hannah's Kindness

Galatians 5:22 says, "The fruit of the Spirit is...kindness..." among the others.

I went to have lunch with my 5th grader, Hannah, at her school. Each class is supposed to sit at a certain table but then the kids can choose to sit by whomever they choose.

As the kids are coming in, I greeted Hannah and asked where she wanted me to sit while she went through the line to get her lunch. She showed me where she normally sits, gave me a seat to the right, because she saved the seat to the left for another kid in her class.

It turns out that she has chosen to sit by a boy in her class named Josh. Josh is just a friend, but he is a special friend. Hannah told me that Josh is pretty quiet with everyone but he normally talks to her a lot at lunch.

It took me a while to figure out what was going on. I asked Hannah and she said that she sits by him almost everyday.

I was really impressed by the kindness I saw in Hannah's life. I know that it is the Lord at work in her. Her kindness to this boy was not at my instruction, or because I told her to. It was all on her initiative.

What is so impressive is how special this boy is. Josh has downs syndrome. Hannah has gone out of her way to show kindness to someone whom others might shy away from. She doesn't condescend or patronize him, she is just his friend.

I hope she does this because she realizes that Jesus did the same kind of thing.