Be Present

As I am staring at a crazy schedule, a woman walks in. She is new to The Marketplace. I share the story and she shops. As she is checking out, she tells me that she is a librarian. Anyone who knows me, knows I am a big book nerd and I love libraries. We start talking. She tells me that she is helping a 14 year old girl. “Her mom doesn’t care about her, so I do.” She shares stories about how she has invested in her life and now she is beginning to thrive. She said with school out right now, she doesn’t see her much. “The other day I saw her and she had a hoodie on. I thought it’s a million degrees outside, what in the world. So I started talking to her and she finally pulled up her sleeves. She had cut her wrists and was just bleeding out.” This lady said it broke her heart and she got her some help. I stopped the story because God said I want you to jump into this story. So I went into the back and grabbed something. As I was wrapping it, the lady told me “I just kept it telling her you are loved.” I just smiled to myself. I handed her this wrapped gift. I want you to give this to the young lady. It’s not from me or The Marketplace, it’s from you. What was it? A one word necklace by 2nd Story Goods. What was the word? Loved. The woman started crying. “You know that God is going to return this to you ten-fold.” It doesn’t matter. What matters is that when this young lady hits another wall she can look at this necklace and know she is loved not only by you but God has her in His sights. With that she left.

You see while my schedule is jacked up something fierce, I can’t stop being present. You see planning is great, but you can’t be so in the future that you don’t see the people that God put in front of you. Be a part of changing someone’s life this week, be present and mindful to the small still voice.