Thank you, Tonja, for passing this award on to me. I do have plenty of opportunities to practice kindness every day, being around children and middle schoolers. That does not mean that my first impulse is always to be kind. In fact, it often is not. Like when I have forty-some primary students coming into my room for chorus practice and they are all disagreeing about where they should stand on the risers, some of the boys are acting like the risers are gym equipment, a child or two has something urgent to tell me right NOW and follows me every step I take.... and it turns out that the urgent thing is about a tooth or some such thing, and the other child just wanted to ask me (as slowly as possible) if we're going to sing a specific song he likes. And then someone sneezes all over the people in front of him, so he needs a tissue, which reminds 10 other children that they need tissues as well. Meanwhile, a few girls are talking about a song we practiced last time, so they start excitedly singing it while I'm taking care of all these other urgent issues, but that's not the song I had planned to start with. Oh, and I forgot the clowns. The clowns are the ones that think every class period is a show all about themselves, and they are there doing everything they can to ensure that they are being watched. Ah yes, everyday kindness! (I know it sounds like I'm completely out of control, but I'm really not.) My everyday kindness takes the form of sitting at the piano with "the look", and waiting until everyone shushes everyone else and says, "She's ready."

Thank God there are plenty of times each day when kindness comes easily. I thank God for giving me a compassionate heart.