By Lois Hewitt

Life seems to always just be waiting around the corner with her foot extended so that she can trip you as yoh walk on by.

The other night I laid in bed praying to be more like Jesus.  I am struggling with my introvertness.  I feel as though my random acts of kindness are few and far between.

I tend to stay in my own head most of the time.  I hate to admit that I am fairly oblivious to the outside world much of the time.

Case in point. I am praying to be a more giving and attentive person.  I want to be a light unto the world because God has changed me.  So I’m at a local market yesterday picking up just a few things.

There are two check out lines.  One really fast and one really slow.  I picked the slow one because I was in no hurry. And, truthfully, I get anxious if I get rushed.

The older couple in line ahead of me had an extended conversation with the cashier about the price of make up, the weather and everything in between.  I really wasn’t bothered because I like to move at a slower pace anyway.

They finish their transaction and it’s my turn.  I go into efficiency mode. Empty my basket, get out my bag out of my purse and start packing my groceries.

The cashier mentions that the couple who were in front of me left a red pepper behind. My brain registered the issue, even looked at the couple by the front doors and I went back to packing my items.

I missed a very easy opportunity to help someone else. I could have run that little red pepper out to the couple and been back in plenty of time to finish packing my few items.  But the situation did not play out that way.

In fact, it wasn’t until I sat down in my car that I realized I missed a chance to be more like Jesus.  I could have done a small act of kindness that would not have changed the world but might have helped a couple have faith in humanity again. 

I was utterly despondent that God offered me the smallest of chances to be a better person and I dropped the ball.

I know it’s just a red pepper.  I know the act would not have made except the smallest of ripples in the ocean of life.  If I had run that pepper to the couple, I would have actually left my head and what I was doing to do something for someone else. 

After beating myself up all evening, I realized that I need to keep a keen eye open in the world around me.  Opportunities avail themselves all the time to do even the smallest thing for someone else.  I also need to quit over thinking the easy stuff.

Am I going to run into a bank that’s being robbed to save the day?  I doubt it.  Will I climb a high tree to save a kitten?  Since I’ve never climbed a tree, probably not. 

Jesus says greatest is he who will lay down his life for a friend. I want to be that person.  I really do but I don’t feel like I’m that person right now and it makes me sad.

My game plan is to start with the next red pepper-type situation and hopefully build up from there.

Life is difficult when you have built walls around yourself as an act of self-preservation.  Walking beyond those walls is foreign and unnatural.  But eventually we have to leave that safety net even for a small moment in time.  A moment that won’t save the world but may touch another in a way we may never know.

We all are used in different ways. Some are Billy Graham and some are not that. I’m not that but I can be more. I just have to keep my faith that Jesus will show me a better way. A way that benefits someone else once in a while.

Kindness is an underrated force in our universe. It has the power to drive lasting change.  It just needs to be spread, even if it is in the smallest of ways, like the size of a red pepper.