About two months into the pandemic, my husband and I found ourselves feeling cooped up and stir crazy.  We needed fresh air: we needed to get out of the house.  Still feeling anxious of the unknown risks of catching Covid, we decided it would probably be safe to venture out to the Columbia Trail, which is quite wide by us and very open.  We imagined we might be the only ones out there.  Wow, were we wrong!  It seemed as though everyone was feeling much like us.

We masked up and ventured down the trail.  I quickly realized someone had placed small, colorfully painted rocks with uplifting thoughts along the trail.  It was the “kindness rocks” project in effect!  I watched until one spoke to me and I picked it up.  Many others were doing the same.  I felt a growing bond with all of these strangers that we were walking with.  Although you could not see anyone smile behind their mask, I could see more and more people smiling with their eyes as we walked through the trail, greeting each other, and picking up rocks along the way. 

When we returned to our car I felt as though I had made many new friends that I would probably never see again.  But for that brief time, God had sent exactly what and exactly whom we needed that day.  A smile and a hello go a long way.  May we all remember to become unknown friends to everyone we meet along life’s way. 

“Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11