In Her Honor

My heart sank this morning as I read an article in the Atlanta Journal and Constitution about a 48-year-old woman who died of cancer. Normally, I'm unaffected by the death of someone I never knew. But when I read her story, I realized that just like this young woman my day would also come. What intrigued me most were the words of her husband as he described her loving spirit. She was in his words, the type of woman who loved and gave of herself to others all the time. Never asking for anything in return, never raising a flag over her accomplishments or deeds. She just did. How many of us can actually say this? Or how many of us can actually admit that when given the opportunity to do for other people well, we sort of miss the mark. Now, I'm not talking about helping the people that we know, or throwing money in the offering plate at church, but using everyday opportunities as a way to bless others. While I'm no Mother Theresa, I can attest to the fact that a simple word or ear can change the way someone looks at the world in an instant. Far too often we run through life never allowing ourselves to experience the joy of relationships. If a person looks a certain way, sounds a certain way or acts a certain way toward us then there's no real reason for us to associate ourselves with them. But what we miss out on in these rare occurrences are chances to enrich ourselves. Everyone has a story just waiting to be told. Whether it's a top exec. at a Fortune 500 company who loss her job or a man contemplating paying child support in order to cover his bills, their lives matter, their thoughts matter, their struggles matter. And no amount of make-up or mask can disguise that. Perhaps in this season we'll plant seeds by listening, and honor ourselves in the process creating our own legacy of loving in this life.