A letter to JOTSC

Kids,
Something has been on my mind and I want to share it with you now, just in case.....

This is a lesson slowly learned by me. My prayer for you is that you get this sooner than I have, as I am only beginning to see just a small glimpse of what I should be.

I ask you, that when other people share their lives, bare their souls, open their hearts, expose their plans, spread their joys and their sorrows, tread lightly as you respond.

Be as gentle as possible, wise as serpents yet harmless as doves.

If you have been entrusted with the intricate, delicate details of another person's journey, do your best to encourage, to understand and to show compassion.

We, as people can be far too quick to criticize, condemn, and scrutinize. You never can fully know someone else's human experience. Anyone can offer a high minded, opinionated critique of another person's path and decisions.

Life is hard for all of us at times. Relationships can be challenging. They flourish, struggle, and sometimes end altogether. Marriages are not always smooth. Singleness can be difficult to accept. Loneliness strikes, even while surrounded by people. Death happens. Sickness occurs. Financial pressures present themselves. Babies are born. New joys, successes, and opportunities emerge. It is all part of the human condition. Most people are endeavoring to do the best they can with the hand they've got to work with. They say you don't know another man until you've walked in his shoes. It's true. It's impossible to realize the full scope of what others are going through at any given time.

People need space and time to grow. You do too. Love yourself where you are right now, with a vision of who you will become tomorrow, and accept others in this same way, as they are today. Offer grace both to yourself and to others.
Use your words to lift and edify rather than tear down.
Tell people you see them and hear them. Listen as they speak. Acknowledge them. Rejoice and weep with them with sincerity.
Be the kind of friend you would want to have.

Finding fault with people is easy to do. Also remember, it is as easy as looking in the mirror. Wasting too many of your precious moments in this frame of mind won't benefit anyone, most of all you. The judgement seat is not yours to claim and you will isolate yourself from that position, or find yourself in the company of other judges, which is no place to be.

Try to never wound another soul.
Even if they have wounded yours.

We are on this earth for such a short time, then we're gone. The way you interact with those you come in contact with will be one of the only things that will make a lasting impact.

You never know how you may affect another's life, even with a brief encounter. It is worth the effort to put yourself out there, to stretch beyond your comfort zone, to risk rejection and fully share, fully love, and fully give of all that you have been given.
Although I often fall short, I will try to be a good example to you.

I love you. May God's goodness shine upon you.
Mama
Romans 2:4 Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?