Lydia was different. Raised by a severely strict grandmother, her social skills were awkward. In the 1960s, she wore 1950s-style dresses. Mama always purposefully loved Lydia. That is why I was appalled as we rode to Vacation Bible School that day, and Lydia said the unthinkable. The unkind. The embarrassing. “You stink!”
I cringed. Lydia now held her nose and fanned her face. “Mrs. Nell, your breath stinks.”
I wanted to pummel her goofy face into the ground. I pushed Lydia hard with my elbow but felt Mama’s soft fingers gently wrap around my tensed arm.
Mama simply turned to Lydia. “I’m sorry, honey. I’ll bring a mint tomorrow.” Then Mama reached over and hugged Lydia.
Lydia smugly tumbled out of the car, but before I could exit, Mama whispered, “Wait a minute.” Her melted chocolate eyes shined with kindness. “When I was a little girl, kids picked on me unmercifully singing, ‘Nellie Gray sits in the hay.’”
I was so ashamed.
“Did you know that Lydia’s grandmother butchered her pet duck and served it for dinner?”
I was appalled.
“There are things you don’t know about people. Hurting places that make them do hurtful things. Just be kind. It pleases God.”
That day, I understood something. A child who was taunted by her classmates let those hard things work kindness into her soul. I wanted to be like her—to share love as thick as honey, to love fiercely, unrelentingly—like a warrior set loose with a weapon of kindness that could change the world.
In the classroom, Lydia sat alone at the table. I patted the seat beside me, and she ran over, eager to be included. Lydia didn’t realize she had said hurtful things that day. She had no idea I was already picking up my Mama’s weapon, ready to change the world.
Think of someone in your world who is misunderstood or marginalized. Ask the Lord to show you how to offer kindness.
Barbara Wright is a seventy-year-old southern lady. She enjoys playing with her eight grands and her Frenchie and attending basketball games and barrel races. She recently retired from founding and managing her adult day care centers for thirty-six years. Her husband went ahead to meet her King in 2022, leaving her with his wish for her to “write life” and share it with others. That is what she plans to do.