Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Have Courage & Be Kind

I took the girls to see the new Cinderella.


As we all know, she loses her parents; and in this version, her mother is dying and leaves Ella with five little words.

"Have Courage & Be Kind."

This was the message throughout the entire movie. 

I left thinking about these words and have already shared them with my girls, more than once.


We're given the opportunity to have courage and be kind on a daily basis. 

And the more I've thought about it, the more I believe, much of the time, it takes the most courage to BE KIND.

When my husband hurts me. 
When my children disobey or speak disrespectfully.
When my family isn't there for me.
When my friends betray me.
When a complete stranger is rude to me.


These are the moments that take the most courage. 



It takes no courage to disrespect my husband with my words or actions.
It takes no courage to lose my patience with my children.
It takes no courage to ignore my family member until they apologize.
It takes no courage to drop my friend like a bad habit.
It takes no courage to respond to that stranger with a few choice words.

Courage is strength in the face of pain.

Courage can sometimes look like an act of service, despite a strained relationship.
Courage can sometimes look like a soft answer with a side of grace.
Courage can sometimes look like seeking restoration.
Courage can sometimes look like staying in touch.
Courage can sometimes look like silence, but with a sincere smile.



I want to teach my girls by example. 

I want to teach them to be kind. 

And it's most challenging to be kind to those who don't "deserve" our kindness.

And it's not okay to just ignore; we're called to do more.

I loved the part in the movie when Ella looks at her wicked stepmother and says, "I forgive you."

In the movie, Ella was the perfect example of not only finding courage to endure her circumstances, but having the courage to be kind to the ones who least deserved it. 


So yes, to my Amelia and Sydney, "Have Courage & Be Kind."

But even better, HAVE THE COURAGE TO BE KIND, in the most difficult of circumstances, towards the ones that least deserve it. 

For it's in those moments that you look the most like Jesus. 

Love to all,

2 comments:

Faith said...

Such true words. Thank you for this.

I want to go see this movie. It looks so cute!

vickeyzuke said...

that movie was wonderful. don't miss it.