Are You Available?

Not for date. Not for a job. Not for an event. But for a friend who is struggling. Or the stranger behind the Starbucks counter. Or the employee at the grocery store.

Are you available?

One thing that I go back to over and over as I study Christ’s life is how available He was.  No matter what he was doing,  he was watching out for the needs of those around him. Whether it was feeding them, paying attention to the touch of his cloak, listening to them, or stopping to look up in a tree, Jesus made time for others. He did it every day in whatever He was doing.  He was never too busy or too involved in His life.

This I am horrible at. I will admit. I am VERY often too busy with my life. For the past six weeks I have been juggling a full-time job and two master’s classes that generated enough work to cause me to spend at least 25-30 hours a week at Barnes and Noble reading and writing papers.  It has been like trying to drink out of a fire hydrant. Thankfully, I am almost done. I have three more 20 page papers to submit and one final project to complete.  The thing is, spending every night and most of my weekends at Barnes and Noble has taught me a lot. Lessons I will keep unpacking in the coming weeks. This week, the biggest lesson I have been learning is the beauty and impact of being available.

In the past five weeks, I have met person after person who was available. I have had conversations with strangers that have changed my life.  Those conversations have compelled me to open my eyes and to notice the people around me. Because someone noticed me. In the midst of books and papers and probably a very frazzled look on my face, people took the time to get to know my story. And some of those people have changed my life.  They listened to me complain about 20 page papers, talk about my dreams, and debate why I am doing all this. I can’t even tell you most of their names. Like the couple who sat and chatted with me for an hour while on their date night about ministry, the beauty of big dreams, living simply, our passions, and loving others.  They encouraged me and inspired me. Oh and she gave me a hug as we were leaving. I still don’t know who they were, but they were exactly what I needed that night.

 I could recount story after story like the one above. Each one is a precious memory and was often the encouragement I needed to endure hours of writing and reading. It has reminded me of the impact a kind word, a hello, or a “how are you doing?” can have.  Everyone has a story and I believe most of us are just waiting for someone to take an interest in that story. To listen to us. To hear our thoughts. 

So my goal for the rest of my summer is to work on being available. I want to be the person that pays attention to the people around me, that notices the stranger and invites them in to a conversation. I want to be the person that makes time for others.

Would you join me? Just think of how different a world we would live in if each of us took a small step towards opening our eyes to the needs and stories of the people around us.