Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:32 (ESV)
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to get away on a girls-only crafty weekend- We ranged in age from early 20 to 70s. We were comprised of college students, stay at home moms, Ladies with “big girl jobs”, and retirees. Some of us were married, some were single, some were divorced. Some of us had kids still living at home, a few had grandchildren, and others had fur babies. Some of us lived 10 minutes away from the retreat house, where others drove up to 6 hours to get there. Some were talkers, others were more reserved. Some leaned liberal in their views, others leaned more conservative. Some were Christians, some were not. We were all different.
Over the course of the 72 hours, most of our time was spent sitting in the main room, crafting and chatting. As I am listening to these ladies tell their stories, I sat back in awe of the inner strength of these women who have been/are going through some serious life issues: Divorce, death, cancer, loss of jobs, health issues, mental illness, etc. I have met most of those ladies before, but I had no idea the struggles and burdens they had to carry.
The conversations were amazing: encouraging, respectful, loving. Women of all shapes, sizes, ages, and experiences coming together to bring each other up. Supporting each other, adding advice in a humble, polite, and respectful way, and just being the listening ear and shoulder to lean on.
Isn’t that what Christ does for us? He lifts us up, gives us hope and grace, shows us love and compassion, and is our rock to lean on. He’s with us for every step of our journey.
The fact is, we only know of the journey we are on. We will never know the journey God has asked other people to walk. Everyone is fighting some sort of a battle and maybe they need us to be “just a little more” to show them the light of Jesus.
Let’s make an effort to be “a little more” to those around us... Let’s be a little more kind...a little more caring... a little more forgiving... a little more empathetic... a little more respectful...
...be a little more “Jesus”.
