the journal

I have been thinking a lot lately about serving others. In a church meeting recently, one of the speakers said something that touched my heart. ‘Love is making space in your life for someone else’. How true is that!? I am guilty of being the kind of person that only thinks about themselves. Especially when I am going through something hard. I’ve had a lot of health issues recently, so I feel like I’ve been stuck in a rut. I’ve only been focusing on myself and what I needed to do to get better. And after that church meeting, all about service, I had a much needed wake up call.

I started thinking about my family and remembered an experience that I had with my brother when I was in Junior High. I wrote down what I remembered of this experience and the feelings that I had for my brother. When I was done writing, I was in tears. I have judged my brother a lot for what he’s done in his life and the choices he’s made. And after remembering this experience, it humbled me. It reminded me of the amazing example he’s been in my life and of the good that’s in his heart. I felt like I needed to tell him what was going through my head. So, I wrote him a letter and sent it.

A couple days later while I was at home editing photos from a recent wedding, I heard a knock on the door. It was really weird because not many people randomly show up at my house. So, I answered it and it was a friend from church. We’ve only lived in this area for a little under a year and my husband and I are not the social type. The first time we went to church, this friend invited us over for dinner. We couldn’t go and politely declined. After that, we didn’t talk much but she was always so kind and caring. She would ask me about my life and took the time to get to know me even though I’m a hard person to get to know. We’ve slowly become closer and she recently invited me to her baby shower. I wasn’t able to go and told her I was sorry that I was so busy! When she showed up at my door, I was happy but confused. She had an envelope in her hand and I asked, ‘What’s this?’. She replied, ‘Just a little note’. I again told her I was sorry I couldn’t make it to her baby shower but told her that when she had her baby I wanted to take newborn photos for her. She was ecstatic! She gave me a hug and then left. =) When I read the note I was so touched. She told me that I was loved and that she has been blessed by my example of faithful perseverance.