My Favorite Question

Although I don't have kids of my own, I am blessed to have many little ones in my life. Being around them is such a joy. Kids are so honest and inquisitive. They love to ask questions and one day one of them asked me a question I will never forget. Little 5-year old Stella asked, "Linda, why are you so kind?"

At first, I was speechless. I needed a moment to just take in the question. This was not a question like how do birds fly or what makes a tree grow. It was a question of character and I recognized one of those special "teachable" moments and yet it was so much more than that.
It was a question that said so much to me. In her question was an affirmation. She had called me "kind." That in the short time I had known her, Stella had recognized and come to appreciate the love, affection, patience, and gentleness that I had tried to show her. She had unknowingly summed up my life's philosophy. That to be kind is the best way to show love to others. It is the legacy of my parents and grandparents. It is the same quiet, steadfast nature I see in my sisters.
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So how could I answer her question? What answer was sufficient? And then in just that moment, the Holy Spirit moved in me and I answered, "Because Jesus taught me the best way to be, is to be kind. He was incredibly generous and kind and I want to be like Him."