Have courage and be kind

“Have courage and be kind.” One of my favourite quotes. One I do my best to live by, but let’s be honest, it’s not always easy to be kind, and its not easy to always be kind. Sometimes it takes courage to step out of ourselves and our little world of comfort and make someone’s day, affect someone’s world, change someone’s life.

Ten years ago, as I was pregnant and expecting our one and only child, and as my heart disease was beginning to wrack my body with illness, I had landed up in hospital for about the third time – this time with depression, a sprained ankle and abdominal cramps – as the medical professionals mis-diagnosed. At this stage of my journey, I was under the care of my gynaecologist, an orthopaedic surgeon, a physiotherapist, a psychologist and psychiatrist. I had been prescribed pain killers, an anti-depressant, a tranquiliser and sleeping tablets. I was not in a happy place.

I remember visiting hours in my hospital ward on Sunday 19 September. My hubby was there, my parents came to visit too, but this particular day there were also quite a few other visitors. Friends and family who I didn’t expect to take the drive to visit me. I remember feeling quite overwhelmed by the kindness of people to pop in and brighten my day. Only once I was dis-charged after this hospital stint, did my mom break the news to me that my baby shower had been planned for that day.

For ten years, I have lived with a sense of loss that I never got to experience and celebrate my pregnancy, that I never had a baby shower to rejoice in the miracle of life growing within me and that I wasn’t able to enjoy the gifts and blessings and the moment of opening them up with those dearest to me, to us. For ten years, I’ve had no memory of “my baby shower”. For ten years I never had.

And then my world changed forever and I will never be the same through a simple act of kindness by a group of woman who were willing to be courageously obedient and to

“have courage and be kind.”

As a family we had decided to check out a wide open spacious deli and coffee spot not far from our home for brunch on Saturday 7 November. We had planned to head there around 9am. After dinner on the Friday evening, my husband casually asked if we could set out a little bit earlier as he wanted to collect a book from a friend. Not suspicious about anything, I agreed. After his alarm went off the next morning, he encouraged us to get ready to leave promptly. We jumped in the car, headed off to collect the book, with the end goal to relax and enjoy fresh air, good food and the company of my 2 favourite people, in mind. We arrived at our friends home and I noticed balloons on the door, so I urged Olav to quickly get the book while Cianna and I waited in the car, as I realized our friends obviously had plans and something going on. Olav encouraged me to come along to quickly say hello and then we could be on our way. I reluctantly followed him to the front door and held back as he walked all the way up to it and announced his arrival. The lady of the house came around the corner, then disappeared and then a few more ladies appeared. Olav looked at me and then at them. I suddenly got the feeling that something was up, but couldn’t place what or why! Eventually the courageously obedient friend who had followed a prompting from the Lord and secretly organised the morning declared, “This is your baby shower”. I melted into a heap of tears and fell into my husbands arms. I couldn’t believe my ears. A group of ladies, NONE of whom were part of my journey 10 years ago had taken courage to be kind in the most unreasonable way, and gotten together to celebrate me. To celebrate us. To mark a significant life moment.

The morning was unforgettable. A moment and memory I will treasure for the rest of my life. Not only did these ladies put aside time to be there, but each of them blessed us with gifts. I don’t think any of us have ever been to a “baby shower” where we bought 2 comprehensive gifts for mom and child, but this morning, Cianna and I sat and had such fun opening gifts for each of us. Such thoughtful, lavish and special gifts. As I was enjoying and taking in all that was happening, I was reminded that God’s story is one of redemption and restoration and He doesn’t just redeem and restore,

HE completely, totally, utterly and generously redeems and restores.

The Bible is full of stories of kindness, full of instruction on kindness and full of encouragement to be kind. Ephesians 4:32 reads, “Be kind to one another,” and Colossians 3:12 implores us as “God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, to put on kindness.” 1 Corinthians 13:4 tells us that “Love is patient, love is kind.”