I wrote it in my journal…step nine: what are you saying “Yes!” to in in 2014?
9. Yes to people – Loving them and being with them…
Yes to people.
Not yes when people ask me to do things.
Not yes to taking on more to help people out.
Not yes in the people pleaser way I tend towards.
Yes to being with people.
Yes to looking people in eyes when talking to them.
Yes to pausing what I am doing to simply be with people.
Yes to making time in my life to be present with people.
Yes to opening up my heart to love people.
Yes to speaking life and love into the lives of those I care about.
Yes to forgetting that I’m tired or have a lot to do in order to be with people.
Because people are important.
Because Jesus called us to love people, not to check off todo lists and keep our houses perfectly clean.
Because being with people, loving on people, listening to people gives me life and energy. Because despite my shy, reserved outside, I’m a people person…an extrovert.
Because planting a church isn’t about programs or Sunday school classes or funding or big services. It’s about people meeting Jesus. And how will they see the love of Jesus in our church unless we, the church, show it to them?
Every Sunday, I find myself rushing around church in the moments before service starts. I’m always on a mission. I always have something to do or someone to talk to.
So as I walk through the people gathering to chat, I say a quick, smiling hello to faces turned to greet me. And with no more than half a second of eye contact and flinging a parting excuse over my shoulder, I head off towards my goal. Or I rush up to someone the minute they walk through the church door and blurt out what I need, usually forgetting to even manage a polite hello.
And within minutes, I’m headed back to apologize.
Because I’ve forgotten again that people are more important than tasks.
Because getting things done and fulfilling responsibilities is important, but not at the sacrifice of loving people.
So sisters, I’m praying and apologizing and trying to slow down enough to love people more than tasks and todos.
“We have to say ‘No’ to good things, so that we can say ‘Yes’ to great things.”
Pastor Daniel Williams
So I’m learning to say no.
Saying NO to task-oriented living…
Saying NO to rushed…
Saying NO to too tired or too short or too long or too far or too much to do…
…in order to say YES to loving people simply by being with them.
Be blessed
<3
