On this day two years ago my best friend Jess went home to Jesus. If you don’t know, Jess and I always said we were basically sisters and to say she changed my life would be an understatement.
Today, I am in South East Asia and I had ministry. I wore my purple pants but I was tired and wasn’t feeling super cheery and excited. No matter how much I’ve healed from losing my friend, today is hard. At ministry we were supposed to be teaching English but the kids were antsy so we stopped for awhile and let them have time to play.
One of the sweet girls at our ministry wrecked my heart. Her name is Na Yaw and she is ten. She randomly walked up to me and said “You are beautiful! You are my sister!”. As I feel the weight of losing someone I once considered a sister, the Lord sent me this sweet girl to remind me that His family and His love is all around me.
The Lords been teaching me a lot about truly loving people. I was unsure coming into this month if I would really make deep connections, or if I should even try to since I would be leaving so soon but day one I fell IN LOVE with the kids. I often think about my family, my friends in the states, my friends in the Dominican, my friends in Swazi and missing them hurts. It broke my heart to leave Swazi and I didn’t want to get to attached to new people and then have to leave them again. We have such a short season together and I may never see them again in this lifetime..
luckily this lifetime is not all we have to look forward to.
The Lord knows exactly how much time I will have to love the people I meet and He still calls me to love them. Whether it’s three months, a month, or even just for a few days, when the Lord puts someone in my path to love, I’m going to love them. We just celebrated Christmas, the birth of a man who selflessly loved everyone He met and who would give up His life so that we can look forward to what comes next.
We don’t always get as much time as we want with people and that’s why the time we have with them is so important. Whether it’s someone you meet in your neighborhood or someone you meet halfway across the world, people are worth loving. Love deeply and love intentionally. Love out of an overflow of Christ’ love for you. Love them like eternity depends on it. If we spend the time we have with people right, we get to spend forever together. When Jesus died for us He invited us to become heirs to His kingdom. We are all family, united in His perfect love.
all my love
abby 🙂
(I have more blogs coming soon about ministry here in Asia, just really wanted to share this today for those who are feeling the weight of it. You are loved and cared for and the Prince of Peace is holding you.)
