Just "BE"

Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God. He made himself nothing; he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form.

Philippians 2: 5-7

WWJD - What would Jesus do?

So much of the bible talks about how Jesus would spend time with people. He was a carpenter but when he visited the poor, he didn't spend all his time building them a house. He would just BE with them. He would talk with them, wash their feet, share a meal. When someone is in the middle of grief, they just need to feel loved and cared for. They need to know that they still matter. Make sure that you are making the effort to "be" with them. It's important to physically connect. It's easy to show up for someones party or celebration. It's easy to be a friend in the good times. But life isn't always good. And as we grow older, life will get harder. We will face more challenges. Please consider making the effort to reach out to those that are hurting. Be their friend. It may be hard, but you may be the only one who does.


Why -

We've learned so many lessons this past year but perhaps the biggest one was that we need to be there for people that are hurting. We've spent much of this year alone and when our kids ask us why people don't talk to us anymore we tell them:

you have to RUN TO

people that are hurting,

NOT FROM them.

I've really learned that time is the best gift. That is what we have asked for again and again and that is what we have appreciated the most. We just needed help filling our days. We needed something to do. Something to look forward to . Our days were so much darker when we were alone. Sadly, because our society is so over-stretched, time is a hard thing to give. When you have a tragedy in your 30's, many people are too busy to help. There seems to be little margin with career's, small children and family obligations. We need to find a way to make time.

In the year after Nate died, I looked back and counted 11 weekends that we were invited to do something. We were on our own for the other 41 weekends. We dreaded the weekends. They were long. They were so hard. Luckily, Shayna had many soccer games that helped fill our time. And on a few occasions, we were able to invite people to our house. But, it would have been helpful to have invitations to do stuff every weekend. So helpful.