Practicing What I Preach?

We all want to do that, don’t we?  But, boy we can certainly fall short.  As the old cliché goes, “Easier said than done.”  Amen to that!

So, this is true confessions time for me.  And a look at how I’m asking God to empower me to do better.

One of the core messages of this ministry is the importance of reaching out to your hurting friends, not only during the onset of their challenge or loss, but often for weeks afterwards.

But I haven’t stepped up to the plate as often as I should have over these past couple of years.  And probably not that well even BEFORE Dale’s death!

Of course, it wasn’t really expected in those early days of grieving.  I had barely enough strength to deal with my own pain, and had nothing left in my tank for anyone else’s troubles at that point.

But, really, how long can that be a legitimate excuse?  Honestly, I have no idea.  But I DO know that God’s call for us to be compassionate doesn’t come with any caveats.  So my prayer is that God would NOW empower me to be the one who checks in on her friends during their difficulties.

And goodness, there is no shortage of difficulties out there.  Maybe it’s because I’m getting older, but it seems I’m surrounded by friends and acquaintances who are dealing with death, surgery, family trials, difficult diagnoses, hospital stays and on and on.  Now that I’m paying more attention, my prayer list is growing!

My calendar is also filling up.  Because I can no longer count on my memory for all these contacts, I’m writing down the dates of these friends’ surgeries and doctor appointments and “result” days.  As “clinical” as that may sound, it’s the best way to ensure that I don’t disappear on a day that someone needs me there for them.

Do you have a heart to also check in on your friends who are in a difficult season?  But do you also struggle to keep track of it all?  One of the free giveaways in my book is entitled “Compassion in Action – a 30-60-90 Day Plan” and it’s designed to help you organize this piece of your reaching out.

If you’d like a little help with this, you can download the free PDF here.  It will ask for your name and email and add you to this blog post notification, if you aren’t already receiving it that way.  You’re free to unsubscribe at any time!

So back to my recent “new leaf turnover.”  Whether God is just calling me to be more intentional about my reaching out, or if I’ve just reached the place in my grief journey where I am more able to focus on this, I can tell you that the blessings run both directions.

The friends are grateful for the contact and I’m blessed in return to be obedient to God in this small way.

May God give us all the heart, the time, and the resources to reach out to our hurting friends.

So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them,

for this is the Law and the Prophets.

Matthew 7:12