Don’t Try Life Solo

“Two are better than one. Because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls. For he has no one to help him up.”

– Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

Hey. We need each other. There is strength in community. You’re going to fall sometimes; life will knock you down. You may be laying flat on your back staring at the clouds and reeling with confusion and pain. You need that friend; the one who reaches out their hand and helps you to your feet again. Don’t try life solo. Grab a friend to walk with you.

LOVE LOVED greatly

“Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” – John 15:13 NKJV

Jesus is LOVE. The very essence of the stuff; walking, living, breathing:  LOVE. LOVE is Jesus and Jesus LOVED us so much, He laid down His life for us. He died for us. You. Me. Us. There was no greater LOVE than this because LOVE LOVED greatly.

Giggles

“Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.”

~ Victor Borge

 

You chuckle.

She giggles.

You grin.

She smiles.

Your eyes meet.

A friendship is born and bridged by laughter.

Always there. Always.

“A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.” ~ Walter Winchell

 

You have everything.

 

You have lots of friends.

 

 

You suddenly have nothing.

 

And you suddenly have no friends at all.

 

 

Your door creaks. Someone is standing there. Jesus steps forward. He stands at the door. He is your friend. He is walking in when the rest of the world walks out.

 

Jesus always cares.

 

And He’s always there.

 

Always.

Anyway.

“People are often unreasonable and self-centered.

Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives.

Be kind anyway.

If you are honest, people may cheat you.

Be honest anyway.

If you find happiness, people may be jealous.

Be happy anyway.

The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow.

Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough.

Give your best anyway.

For you see, in the end, it is between you and God.

It was never between you and them anyway.”

―    Mother Teresa

Better. And Beautiful.

 

“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.”
– Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

 

 

We all have those beautiful people in our lives.

A mother.

A friend.

A teacher.

A dad.

A grandparent.

A sister.

A brother.

A salesclerk.

A study buddy.

A librarian.

A neighbor.

A someone.

They are beautiful because they know pain and yet they love. They know failure and yet they run again. They know abandonment and yet they offer acceptance.

They do this to the ones they love. The ones they don’t. They do it to you.

That’s why they are beautiful.

Because they know all the hard stuff we do, and yet they allow it to make them better.