Last week, I participated in a local flower shop’s beautiful tradition of spreading kindness — Petal It Forward. The shop’s owner reached out to our café, which my husband and I co-own with another couple, and invited us to take part. She provided a bucket of flowers for customers to pick two — one to keep and one to share with someone else.

Throughout the day, it was heartwarming to hear how people planned to share their extra flower. Children said they would give theirs to a teacher. Others mentioned a parent, a friend, or a coworker they wanted to surprise. Listening to their intentions to pay it forward recharged my hope in humankind — a hope that, I’m learning, requires daily pursuit and a renewed mindset. Acts of kindness are made possible when someone chooses the courage to do something decent — to pay kindness forward, pay courage forward, and pay decency forward.

The rat race of our daily rituals can easily sweep us into a whirlwind of unfeeling and exhausting tasks — unproductive meetings, passive-aggressive emails, and endless chatter about who said what. But fearless acts of kindness, no matter how small, have the power to reset our perspective and remind us of what truly matters. The impact grows when someone takes the goodness they’ve received and passes it on. That goodness gives and gives until, suddenly, our homes, schools, workplaces, communities, houses of worship, businesses, and even governments are transformed by courageous, radical kindness.

While we may not always have something physical to pass along, we can still commit to the thought of paying it forward. In Scripture, a Samaritan woman shared the good news about Jesus after receiving it from Jesus Himself. He told her everything about her life and revealed that He was indeed the Messiah:

Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, ‘Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?’ They came out of the town and made their way toward him… Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me everything I ever did.’
— John 4:28–30, 39

Last week, I was able to pay patience forward. On my life’s journey, I strive to pay love forward — because God saw it necessary to be both patient and loving with me. And that is what truly matters. What will you pay forward today?

Be well y’all, and much love.