Kindness, Love, and Generosity

Emily Lee

In December 2025, more than two hundred seniors gathered at the Taiwan Center for the annual Christmas and birthday celebration. The delicious boxed lunches were lovingly prepared and donated by Ms. Fu-Mei Chuang, the yoga and modern dance instructor, together with her students. After the meal, everyone received an orange.

As I was about to leave, I noticed the joyful radiance on Ms. Chuang’s face—a light that seemed to shine from a heart filled with selfless love and generosity. It touched me deeply. Looking down at the three beautiful oranges in my hands, I went home and quietly placed them back into the fruit basket on the table. At that very moment, I made a decision: I wanted to preserve this love on my canvas, so that it might remain long after the day had passed.

I believe that every act of love shapes our souls. When we no longer live by calculation or self-interest, but instead choose to live in grace and love, we begin to experience a life that reflects heaven itself.

Kindness, love, and generosity are not only choices that bring happiness—they are gifts that can be passed on from one generation to the next.

When our children were young, our house was not large, but its doors were always open. Friends and neighborhood children often gathered there, especially for overnight sleepovers.

In our backyard stood a small playhouse where all the children wanted to spend the night. One summer, a boy who had recently arrived from Taiwan was always left out. His unusual hairstyle made him unpopular with the others, and I could sense how lonely and rejected he felt.

Since he spoke fluent Taiwanese, we quickly became friends. He gladly helped me wash the dishes, and I made a point of encouraging and complimenting him. On the second night, I arranged for him to have a turn sleeping in the little house. Day by day, he became accepted by the group. After returning home, he changed his hairstyle, gradually overcame some unhealthy habits, and a few years later became one of the leaders among his peers.

That experience taught me that sometimes all a person needs is someone who is willing to believe in them.

Many neighborhood children also loved coming to our home. One day, a little boy said to me, “Your house is so beautiful.” Later I learned what he truly meant. It was not the house itself. In our home he was free to play, while at his own house his mother had roped off the living room and forbidden the children from entering. What he admired was not our furniture, but the freedom and warmth he experienced.

Today both of our children have families of their own.

Whenever we visit our son’s family in Boston, our grandsons’ friends often gather at the house for meals. Many children today grow up with parents who are overwhelmed by work or affected by divorce, leaving them longing for a place of security and acceptance. My daughter-in-law has quietly become a temporary mother to many of them.

Every March our family spends a week together at Disney World in Florida. Several of our grandsons’ friends often join us. My daughter-in-law fills the refrigerator with their favorite drinks and snacks, making every child feel welcomed and loved. Before long, they naturally began calling us Grandpa and Grandma.

As we continue to love, to give, and to show compassion, our inner lives are quietly transformed by the light of heaven.

Some acts of kindness may never return to us in visible ways, yet they remain as light within our own souls.
Whenever we choose to encourage, comfort, or love another person—even when no one notices and there is no reward—our Heavenly Father sees the choice of our hearts.
Kindness, love, and generosity are never transactions. They are the natural expression of a life touched by God’s grace. Such light not only blesses others; it also shapes the people we are becoming.

When I completed this painting, my heart was filled with gratitude. The oranges symbolize love shared with others. The bananas, the large grapefruit, and the fresh green leaves remind me of God’s abundant provision. Each fruit has its own color, shape, and flavor, just as each person has unique gifts to share in love.

A life filled with kindness, love, and generosity is like a richly colored painting—made more beautiful by love and more abundant through sharing.

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