It just takes one..It just takes one… It just takes one…
This phrase has been playing in my mind for the past month almost daily. I am just finishing up a 10 day trip with my family and have spent the last 2 days at our family farm which has no cell phone reception which means just rivers, forest, and mountains which are on no agenda but to just look beautiful. With no social media distractions the phrase “it just takes ONE… was extra loud in my head this week.
And then God gave me this picture to hammer it home. I love when he gives me visuals. As I was walking by the small river bank where my family has literally waded for decades, I am always taken by the lush green plants that border this bubbling cool water. It’s like a watercolor painting God especially made to bring me rest. Nothing quite soothes my soul like the nature in this special place of family memories. In the midst of this green, there was one bright orange flower. It was just ONE, but it made everything else around it even more beautiful. It took just one display of color to make the landscape even that much more breath taking.
The phrase, “it just takes one”…. was birthed in my mind a couple of months ago. I had the opportunity to hear a story of young woman who had the misfortune of being a product of her environment, which meant she lived in poverty when she was young and was subjected to people who made some really cruel and bad decisions. She was living daily just to survive and made some unfortunate decisions that landed her in prison for 7 years.
After decades of a hard, tough life, she is now employed by an incredible company who helps employ those who are homeless, and she is making a new story for her family.
As I was listening to her story I had a million questions running through my head.
So I started bombarding her with some of them: “Who was there for you? Who came and visited you in prison? Who helped get you on your feet when you were released? Who believed in you when you wanted to change course?”
The resounding answer was: NO ONE. No family, no friends, no ministry group. NADA. No one visited her, no one helped her dream more for her life, no one offered guidance. Nobody ya’ll. Can you even imagine? She was completely alone. I mean there are some days I may feel lonely or grinding it through the madness by myself, but seriously I have never been A-L-O-N-E.
As I listened to her story, unfortunately it is a story I have heard before…one of despair and hopelessness. The story of someone is forced to do it ALONE. I have heard similar stories such as these too many times. There are just too many people trying to journey the hard, the ugly, the super messy alone. All it would have taken was ONE. ONE person to visit her, ONE person to reach out, ONE person to recognize her as a hurting child, ONE person who was willing to use their time and energy to grind through the messy with her and help her out of it.
Many times I want to reach the masses. Back in the day it used to be for prides sake, because I wanted to be known or be someone. God has gotten a hold of my throat on that one, and now it’s I only want to reach all those people so that they know whose they are in Christ. But God has kept this phrase IT JUST TAKES ONE burning in my mind. …it hasn’t been…It just takes 1000 or 100. Just one!
Kristi,
It just takes ONE for you to stand beside
It just takes ONE for you to come along and love
It just takes ONE for you to hug and listen to without judgment or advice
It just takes ONE for you to give of your time and energy too
It just takes ONE for you to pray for and encourage
It just takes ONE for you to DREAM purpose for their life again
It just takes ONE….
You don’t have to find the masses Kristi, just find the ONE.
When I get back home I am going to find my ONE. The ONE that God is asking me to stand beside, dream with, love on, and take time and energy to pour into. And that ONE might be right in front of me. Those sometimes are the hardest. It's way easier me to invest in those who I don't live with or see daily. But sometimes the ONE is in our neighborhood or in our own homes or maybe the ones who are messy and not like us and how make us super uncomfortable to be around. I am not finding my ONE, because I need a “project” or because it makes me feel good about myself, but it’s because this is who we are to be for each other. If we all just had ONE that we loved on, invested in, prayed for how would our world be different?
Would our prisons have one person who was lonely? Would a single-mom be without a friend to call in crisis, would our newly divorced or widowed neighbor ever really feel lonely? Would the man or woman who hides behind their “perfect” mansion and manicured clothes feel worthless? Would those going through an illness feel hopeless?
As I type this I still get tears in my eyes when I think of the lady I met who didn’t have ONE. How many times has God opened my eyes to the ONE, and I have made excuses because I didn’t have “time, energy, patience, or never even saw them in front of me.”
And for those of you on the other side maybe you need someone. Someone who will be in your corner through the unbearable times. I encourage you to reach out. Ask for help, ask for someone to stand along side you and bear the mess. At some time or another in our lives we will all be a ONE. Whether we are the ONE who needs somebody to stand beside us or we are the ONE who will stand beside another, we will all have our chance.
I challenge us all to find our ONE. #justtakesone