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Hi, sweet friend! So glad to wrap up Week 3 with you! Are you still hanging with us? I sure hope so, because today I have something special. Just. For. YOU!
Do you love gifts? Me too!
The anticipation of a gift is overwhelmingly exciting for me! So I want to lead you to a gift today I don’t want you to miss!
In Chapter 8 of Uninvited, Lysa TerKeurst writes:
“Relationships don’t come in packages of perfection; relationships come in packages of potential. And wrapped between the wonderful and the work are inevitable times of imperfection and possible rejection.”
Yes! Though relationships require work, they have the potential to bring blessings, but tend to be a bit messy too. Amen?
I was certainly reminded of this the other day while attempting to discuss my “terrible, most horrible, not so very good day” with my friend. I needed some understanding and a listening ear. But I didn’t get that, because she too had problems of her own that day. Problems that, to her, were bigger than mine. Ever been there?
Compare that with another day, when I left my 4-year-old daughter at school, and she cried … and then I cried, too! But as I stepped out of the classroom, another momma looked at me and said, “Aww, my daughter did the same thing last year. This too shall pass.”
That momma’s words may have been few, and seemingly small, but they were such a powerful gift to me! What a difference in her response versus my friend’s earlier response to me. In both scenarios, I needed the gift of understanding. I needed the gift of “me too.” Yet, one offered what felt like rejection, while the other offered acceptance.
What if, in all our relationships, we aimed to unwrap the “Me Too” gifts as Lysa explains in Chapter 8?
- “Me Too” says, “I hear you” which unwraps the gift of feeling seen.
- “Me Too” says, “We’re in this together” which unwraps the gift of community.
- “Me Too” says, “I understand” which unwraps the gift of acceptance.
Feeling seen. Community. Acceptance.
Let’s wrap up Week 3 by unwrapping these gifts of “me too” with those around us! Will you accept and give this gift?
Reflect and Respond:
Observe — When’s a time someone gave you the gift of “me too”? How did it make you feel?
Bible — Did you know Jesus gave the gift of “me too” also? Read John 15:18 and Isaiah 53:3. Will you accept His gift? How does His gift and these verses help you understand the gift of “me too”?
Stretch — What better way to wrap up this week than to pay it forward by being intentional to give the gift of “me too” this weekend? It could be just the exact gift someone needs!