My husband and I had an argument last night.

This morning our argument seemed so trite. Not that it no longer mattered or that we couldn’t do better to communicate more kindly and effectively, but the weight of it just seemed so trivial compared to what we were about to embark on, or rather the lives of the people we were about to encounter. So, we got our kids up at 4:30 am, bundled them up, and got ready to leave the house. Despite the early hour, their sleepy-eyed faces still managed to beam with smiles of a new day beginning, a new adventure awaiting. Earlier in the week we had told them what we were going to be doing-going to our church to help out with Winter Shelter by serving breakfast to the guests. “Do you ever feel ignored?” I asked. “Do you ever feel lonely or overlooked?” They nodded their curious, little heads. “Does it make you feel sad?” They nodded again. “Well, some of these people have been overlooked, stepped over, and ignored for so long and on top of that they don’t have homes and they’re hungry. What we’re going to do is be the kind, smiling faces that will give them some warm breakfast and show them that they are worth it. Because in a heartbeat our lives could be different.”

I think when we stop imagining people being so far removed from us and, instead, take a posture of empathy and think of people as our brothers and sisters or see the child within the fellow soul standing next to us, it allows for a shift in our hearts. We can begin to see their hurt… their loss… their pain… and maybe it even begins to expose our own. And suddenly we’re all stripped down to a state of vulnerability, where it doesn’t matter what we have or don’t have for that matter. It doesn’t matter what we’ve said or done. All that matters is our hearts and our yearning to be seen… to be acknowledged… to be loved. Because in a heartbeat we could be in someone else’s shoes. It is by God’s grace that we are where we are… “there but for the grace of God go I.”

When we got back to our warm, safe home and sat down to fill all of our bellies with some lunch, my 7-year-old son said, “I got a really good feeling from all of the people today momma.” All I can say is wow. Let’s challenge ourselves and move beyond our comfort zone to a place of humility, empathy, and love. Let’s raise our kids to have servant’s hearts and to honor themselves by honoring those around them. Let’s take a moment to look at others with grace and tenderness. Let’s be the house. And be the change we so long to see in this messy, beautiful world that we live in together.

~Tara xo

Gnarly Things to Check Out

Quote: “When we give, we receive so much more.”

Websites: PiN Ministries & Trinity Church