The Others

At his wife's funeral, a passionate minister, Dr. E.V. Hill, expressed a story depicting his wife's affectionate soul.  In Love and Respect by Emerson Eggerichs, it was described like this: "As a struggling young preacher, E.V. had trouble earning a living.  E.V. came home one night and found the house dark.  When he opened the door, he saw that Jane had prepared a candlelight dinner for two.  He thought that was a great idea and went in to the bathroom to wash his hands.  He tried unsuccessfully to turn on the light.  Then he felt his way into the bedroom and flipped another switch.  Darkness prevailed.  The young pastor went back to the dining room and asked Jane why the electricity was off.  She began to cry.  'You work so hard, and we're trying,' said Jane, 'but it's pretty rough.  I didn't have enough money to pay the light bill.  I didn't want you to know about it, so I thought we would just eat by candlelight.'  Dr. Hill described his wife's words with intense emotion.  'She could have said, 'I've never been in this situation before.  I was reared in the home of Dr. Caruthers, and we never had our lights cut off.'  She could have broken my spirit; she could have ruined me; she could have demoralized me.  But instead she said, 'Somehow or other we'll get these lights back on.  But tonight let's eat by candlelight."

You see, there is one job that we have as humans on this planet: to love others.  It's funny how often we get sidetracked and think it is all about us.  The greatest thing I have been reflecting on this week is the power that we have to live and breathe life into others.  Only then will you be truly fulfilled.  So as I focus on my purpose and, of course, my daily life to get there, what truly am I striving toward?  If I seriously analyze my life, how much do I feed into others?  Ok, so unfair question because I am a mommy and my life constantly is encouraging my little one.  But when I move that aside for a second, does my love extend beyond that?  My husband- does he get fed into and encouraged the way he deserves?  And the real and honest kicker- am I doing all that I can?  Or am I making excuses in order to do the minimum?  Life wasn't meant to live in order to just get by.  It was intended to be flourished upon, it was meant to be serving, it was meant to be beautiful.

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another." -John 13:34