WoW - Appreciating Kindness and Forget the Rest

Children,

Right now at 16 weeks pregnant, I have consistently craved one thing: potatoes.  Mash 'em, boil 'em, stick 'em in a stew (by the time you're reading this, you must know this movie reference, or else your dad and I aren't doing our job).  Many a night I lament not having the time, energy, or ingredients to make myself some fresh mashed potatoes.  (Your Aunt Sarah made some first class mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving this year - sour cream and cream cheese... YUM.)

Anyway, your father is very aware of this craving, and one night when I voiced my craving for potato chips, he got up a few minutes later and was working away in the kitchen.  I didn't think much of it, but then maybe 15 minutes later, I got curious.  Right as I asked what he was doing, I realized - he was making me homemade potato chips!  It was so very thoughtful, and not even requested; the best kind of surprise!  So that night at 9pm I enjoyed my own homemade potato chips and loved your father that much more for serving me in this way.

It's moments like these in marriage and really any relationship, that you get to remember or realize how much someone cares - when they go out of their way without being asked, to please you.  It helps put others' faults into perspective, especially if it's something they can't help, or is a work in progress (we are all works in progress, after all).

So today, please consider doing something nice for a loved one, a friend, or a stranger, without being asked, and recognize their joy and surprise as a gift from the Lord for allowing you the space and opportunity to serve in such a way.