The answer to that question is found in the Bible. Ephesians 4:32 reads Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

I pray to be open to God’s prompting each day for whatever I plan to do, and did the same when I contemplated the brainstorming start of my 2020 Extravaganza novella. The idea of a cup filled with something wouldn’t leave me alone. Then the odd notion of borrowing a cup of sugar stuck in my mind as a possibility for a story.

While growing up in a farming community eight miles away from town, my parents didn’t drive into town for one item. Mom, my sis, or I would start to cook and if we didn’t have an ingredient we either improvised, chose a different recipe, or ran to a neighbor’s house (half to a mile away) to help out.

In the country of my youth neighbors were always kind by helping one another out.

We live on an acreage. One of my girls insisted a recipe had to be followed to the letter, the other made do and used (still does) her imagination. I improvise, make a list, and wait. Unless it was for emergency medicine, even living five miles away now, I don’t recall driving to the city for one thing.

The image of a guy knocking on a neighbor gal’s apartment door has been used for a romantic meet in sweet stories before. I wanted something different. A cup of Christmas kindness popped into my head and off I went.

Anyone who is familiar with the Bible knows the fruit of the spirit listed in Galatians 5:22 and 23: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. I personally struggle with patience and kindness, probably because my instinct is self-sufficiency “just get the job done.” (I’m human, not perfect.)

Sometimes I hurt the feelings of others. I need to ask forgiveness, and theirs usually comes readily because they recognize my type-A personality.

I wanted to write about a heroine who always puts others first and shows her kindness by doing good deeds. Forgiveness comes into play also, just as in the verse from Ephesians.

May you all have a most blessed Christmas season, and may you be filled with the fruit of the Spirit.