A spoonful of sugar...

Did I mention a spoonful of sugar? This is one sweet baby!

A little honey goes a long way...

You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar.....whoever wanted to catch flies. The point is, if you wanted to catch flies, you should be nice to them.

The idea is - be nice.

I may agree with everything you say, but if you say it with an attitude or in a mean spirited way, I will shy away, even disagree. That's just human nature, if someone is mean, we aren't going to like them.

And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew 22:39

As Christians we aren't required to "like" people, but we are called to "love our neighbor as ourselves." Don't you think it's easier to show that love by being nice? That's the point of good manners isn't it? Just to be nice.

Now I could get into a long battle of discussions about how one word or action or another might be nice for you but isn't for another. Our society is so on its head that we do have a hard time knowing what's kind and what isn't.

For example, Hannah has to carry her own chair in the presence of two young men often. Obviously, she is capable of carrying her chair, but it is heavy. One day someone made a comment about her chair. She answered that she thought that was what gentlemen did - carry a lady's chair. The two assumptions that she could arrive at were - one, she isn't a lady or two, they weren't gentlemen. Their response? They thought that she would feel "empowered" if she carried her own chair. Anyone who knows Hannah knows how funny that is. She appreciates gentlemanly manners as much as anyone!

But since this blog is for ladies, I don't need to spend time teaching men about manners. (I do wish I could sometimes, but, oh well, I'll leave that in God's hands.)

My point is really clear- be nice! Some people are facing REALLY hard things. As Christian women we can brighten a moment of their days by kindness. You know what might make you feel better on a bad day? Then give that to someone else, anyone else?

Practical things you can do?

• Offer to return the shopping cart of a more with small children
• Replace the empty toilet paper roll
• Smile at random people in a store
• Speak to small children cheerfully
• Offer to carry something heavy for someone
• Stay off of your cell phone in public

What would you find to be a nice gesture?