I had a wonderful lunch today with my 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Bowden. It was awesome to be able to catch up on the last 25 years or so. But even more than that, it was a pleasure and an honor to have the chance to tell her how much she meant to me and how she made a difference in my life. God has placed so many people in my path along the way and she was one of the first.
As I drove back to work I was wondering if (HOPING that) I have made that sort of difference in someone’s life myself. And if I haven’t, I really hope I get the chance to. I think it’s all a part of the plan that we do this. In God’s work in redeeming both us and creation, he invites us in to become a part of the work. We become salt and light as Matthew tells. We are to add flavor to and shine in the world. In other words, we are to help make things better.
Obviously I want to have this kind of influence on my children, and I am working hard on it. But I have to think that in living a missional lifestyle, I can do the same in someone else’s life. Mrs. Bowden did and I am quite sure she did it many times over.
I just pray that God gives me the patience, spirit, and drive to impact lives. It’s not something that comes easy to me. I mess up regularly and am easily bothered by people. But there are so many people who pass through my life that I have to think need someone to care. They need someone who can listen. They need someone to understand and have compassion.
Do you have someone who made a difference in your life? Tell them! It’s a great experience. If you need to seek them out, it will be worth the time. Are you this kind of person in someone’s life? Are you open to being? I challenge us all to make a difference. Touch a life and then another. Take the time to invest yourself into others. It’s all a part of the plan after all…
Such a great post! I think we all make differences in the lives of others, often in ways we don't realize or necessarily intend to. In fact, I think if we really were aware of our impact on others we'd probably be frozen like a deer in headlights worried about what impression we made or how we'd be received.
This makes me think of something Oswald Chambers said -
" So often we mar God's designed influence through us by our self-conscious effort to be consistent and useful. Jesus says that there is only one way to develop spiritually, and that is by concentration on God. "Do not bother about being of use to others; believe on Me" - pay attention to the Source, and out of you will flow rivers of living water.... The people who influence us most are not those who buttonhole us and talk to us, but those who live their lives like the stars in heaven and the lilies in the field, perfectly simply and unaffectedly. Those are the lives that mould us. If you want to be of use to God, get rightly related to Jesus Christ and He will make you of use unconsciously every minute you live."
Posted by: kristine | May 22, 2009 at 11:51 PM