Hope and Kind

This morning I met a friend for an early walk before the rest of the house was awake.
Despite our disheveled appearances we really enjoy this time together to share in the joys and heartaches of being a mom.  This morning, she shared with me some of the struggles her son is having at school.  As she talked about the difficulties he has to keep up with the rest of his peers, she mentioned that he did have a very special friend who helped him with his books, papers and even unties the knots in his shoelaces for him.  Tears rolled down her cheeks as she described the impact the kind actions of this one little boy has had on her son. 
Kindness. 
Such a beautiful word.
Such a gift to others.
And yet such a challenge for our children to be.
This world demands so much of them. 
They have to be smarter.  Work harder.  Move faster. 
They rush from school to activities to home to chores.
Do they feel this world treats them kindly?
And yet without kindness, imagine what this world would be.
When our kids were very small, Mark and I chose 5 qualities that we wanted to instill in our children.  Two of them relate to kindness- altruism and empathy.  We work hard at finding ways to teach them this.
I want my children to be kind.
But I also pray this world is kind to them.

Just before our walk ended, I checked on the crab apple tree on our front lawn.  Yesterday, I had pretty much given up on it since it's the only tree on the street that hadn't produced a single leaf yet.
Imagine my excitement when I saw this!

Leaves!
Life!
Hope!

I can't wait to show the kids when they come home from school today.
Maybe all this tree needed was a little more time. A little more love. Just like us all.