Every year, I get a letter from a woman who I knew for about six months over a decade ago. When we met, I felt like my life was on fire. I had four young kids, we had just moved to a new city, we were as broke as broke could be, our marriage was fraying under all the stress, and honestly, my faith was too. We had no friends or community where we were, and the future didn’t look hopeful.
This woman and I met on our kids’ first day of school. She couldn’t have been more different from me! While I felt like a blazing disaster, she was peaceful and predictable. She had the calmness and demeanor of someone who was not fussing over the latest fashion or trend, but had created a simple, meaningful life.
Our kids took to each other. And rather than holding this young flailing mom at bay, this woman opened her home and life to us. We shared many meals with her family, my kids spent hours in their yard, she took us to church with her family and planned activities for the kids. She taught me how to navigate things that were new to me and poured into my life in ways that I don’t think she even realized.
Through her I connected with a small group of moms who met each week for prayer and Bible study. It was kind of ironic. I was coming from a life that centered around missionary work and sharing the Bible with others, but my faith was at its weakest and most vulnerable point. These women circled around me and prayed over me those few months when I didn’t have the strength to do it for myself.
When I think of examples of love in my life, honestly, I have many. There has always been someone reflecting Christ’s love into my life. But this woman stands out to me. I think it’s because I needed it so much right then, and because she absolutely didn’t have to do it. She didn’t have to let her life get messy with the extra hoopla I brought, but she did.
We write each other every year with updates and photos, and her kindness and friendship are still with me. She reminds me that some of the biggest opportunities we have to impact someone’s life are in our availability and willingness to share a bit of ourselves rather than hold someone at a distance.