Dear Ones,
Hope you are having a blessed day! Al is home from the Men’s Group and I have been busy in the kitchen making egg dishes and chicken teriyaki, and doing food prep. We have Bible Study this afternoon and a walk on the trail. Kurt’s family is on their way to the lake and lots of relatives will be gathering this weekend for the wedding! 
Devotions from Judy’s heart
  Our pastor has been preaching a series on the fruit of the Spirit and I have given extra thought for the fruit of kindness. It seems we live in a dark world today with violence, hunger, and cruelty and more than ever kindness is needed and can make a difference. To someone lonely and feeling empty, an act of kindness can beam a ray of light into their darkness and lets them know they are seen and counted.            Our actions of kindness should not be done because we feel we have to but more out of a caring heart that focuses on the other, rather than oneself. The Holy Spirit wants to give us such a heart and as Paul said in Eph. 4:32, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” We are to be thoughtful, desiring to see the real needs of another and seeking to sow kindness into their lives. How does that look?                                                                                                                                                                                                     We can show kindness in friendship, by welcoming someone into our lives in a climate of understanding and love. It may be a simple act that opens the door and brings hope to them. It takes sensitive ears and hearts open to the Holy Spirit to know what act of kindness is needed. Sometimes it is just a word that gives them hope, a scripture that they can hang on to. It could be simply paying for an item that is needed but they can’t afford. Or could be a word of gratitude to a person who is serving us in some way. I am reminded of my niece’s daughter Taylor, who was led by the Spirit to walk over to a stranger and give him the word that God wanted him to know he was forgiven. Later she found out that he had been driving a car and was in an accident in which his fiend was killed. I’m sure Tylor’s obedience to share this word of kindness and forgiveness meant everything to that young man. Another wonderful way is to actually give someone a blessing. We find this often in scripture and we can also place our hand on a person and impart a blessing in His name. “The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you.”                                                                                            May our kind words and actions be like a poultice that helps remove hurts and brings healing to wounds.
Challenge for today: Share a word of thanks to someone who has expressed God’s kindness to you.  
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy