Kindness Offered

     Most hospital workers are kind, but I have never forgotten the kindness of the nuns at the hospital in Cameron.

     In 1965, the only hospital in Cameron, Texas, was run by Catholic nuns. When I went there to have my fourth child, they doted on me as though I were a child.

     One night, just as I got into bed, a nun walked into the room carrying a bowl of water with a washcloth in it. In a soft voice, she said, “Put your legs over the side of the bed so I can wash your feet.”

     Embarrassed, I stammered, “That’s okay. I’ll go down the hall in the morning to take a shower.”

     After I protested for a while, I finally gave in and let her wash my feet.

     One day, as I walked down the hall past the business office, I overheard two nuns talking about me. One said, “I don’t think she is married. I’ve never seen her husband.”

     Maybe the nuns thought I was a poor young mother without a husband. They didn’t know he was out working hard running a bulldozer to help pay our hospital bill. 

     Either way, I will always remember those nuns and the kindness they showed me. That experience taught me that sometimes, accepting kindness from someone can be just as important as offering kindness ourselves. 

Kindness Offered

If someone in kindness offers you help,

Do you accept it, or try to do it yourself?

Perhaps you’ve chosen to walk alone,

Believing you must manage on your own.

Are you sure the path you’ve chosen is right,

Or would accepting some help make your journey light?

Accepting help from someone can be an act of love,

For kindness comes from our Father above.

Their hearts receive a special blessing inside,

When they can help someone along life’s ride.

We’re to love God, love others, and trust and obey,

And as the hymn says, there’s no other way.

                                           Patricia Westbrook

     “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you."    Ephesians 4:32, NKJV