The Investment ~ Be Someone That Makes Everybody Feel like a Somebody

Grace was a new mom and finding her new role a bit lonely at times.

She left the job she was great at, didn’t have extra money for babysitters, she felt stuck at home, and alone. By the time her husband arrived each night, he was drained from the day and wanted to unwind watching TV.

Most of her friends were still single, working, and their idea of fun was going out to places that Grace no longer felt comfortable with.

I met Grace at a church-sponsored writing group.

With more than two decades separating us in age, that didn’t stop us from becoming friends.

We found that we not only enjoyed writing but we enjoyed the same genre, enjoyed the same music, and fast food.

Remembering what it once was like to be at home with small children, I decided to help Grace. I offered to pay for a babysitter so she and I could go to a new writing critique. After her initial decline, I convinced her that I didn’t want or need to drive in the dark.

She drove, I talked.
I drove, she hung on for dear life.

We shared our childhood hurts and pains and something amazing began to happen.

I would give her advice on being a wife and mom; she would give me advice on being a wife and mom.

Both of us had the same heart… what about that! We both wanted to be the best we could possibly be.

We became each other’s, accountability partner.

When those ugly unforgiving or bitter feelings would show up, we would confide in each other and encourage each other.

Grace helped me to move past my feelings of resentment and inadequacies; I helped her to accept and embrace her uniqueness.

I began to see past experiences as just that, an experience that helped me to be better.

I began to see that I wasn’t alone in desperately wanting that storybook relationship with my own mother. I realized that though that relationship may never be possible; there were other people out in the world that I could invest my time in.

People like Grace, wanting to have a mother-daughter relationship and knowing it may never be possible as well.

You may be here reading this, tearing up, and thinking of your own circumstances. God sees your tears, he knows your heart. He tells us to come to him with all our hurts and pains and He himself will carry our burdens.

Ask him for direction, wisdom, discernment in finding or being a mentor.

You may be at a place of giving up today. You’ve prayed and asked God to restore that relationship, but so far, nothing. Never give up on it but while you are waiting, why not invest in someone else… someone who needs a person in their life that will take the time to care.

You’re never too old or too young to be a light in someone’s otherwise dark loneliness. Ask God for direction right now. He wants you to invest your time in others, let him direct you to the right person or persons. You may be surprised at how awesome it turns out.

I moved a couple of years ago.

Grace and I are still close friends. In fact, we are online critique partners still trudging toward our dreams of becoming novelists.

I thought the day God asked me to help Grace, I was doing her a big favor. Turns out God was doing me a favor… bigger than I ever imagined.