He said, “We are responsible for one another.”
“WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ONE ANOTHER.”
It’s like my ears perked up when I heard that and I was listening with full heart and soul. He didn’t expound but just stated it as a fact. A fact that doesn’t need to be questioned or debated, it just is.
And I thought to myself, what does that look like, what does that mean? Last week I was able to answer that question. I was able to see first hand what it looks like to be responsible for one another.
Last week I received a phone call that asked me for some help. The caller told me about a family that had fallen on some hard times and their family would not have Christmas at ALL, unless someone intervened. The caller was asking me to help brainstorm some options as other resources had been tapped. There needed to be some intervening STAT. I didn’t know how that was going to happen, but I knew this family would have Christmas. And not just the presents wrapped with pretty bows and garland under the tree Christmas. I mean a miracle Christmas, one they would remember forever.
I didn’t have a plan except this:
I prayed and I asked for help.
I relayed the story to some of my people, my generous- lover of others-tell us what we can do people.
And this is where the miracle starts to form. My KHOP girls step in (you know the girls who come to my garage before the break of dawn to sweat their butts off- the ones who complain that I torture them each week, but keep coming back for more-yes, those girls.)
In 24 hours every child was sponsored including the mother.
No questions like these were asked from my dear helpers: Who is this family? Are they worthy of this? Do the parents have a job?
I don’t even know if any of these questions came to their mind.
I am all for empowering under-resourced parents with affordable toy stores and helping them help themselves, we did this, just this year, but there was no time for that. No time for logistics, and procedures, and questions of how we can change their future circumstance and give them tools and all the things my mind usually goes too. Nope, they just needed a miracle-with nothing gained in return.
My girls heard from me, who heard from someone else about a stranger in need, and they acted. That’s it!
They were responsible for another. A fellow exhausted mom who had come onto hard times and was stressing over the holidays. A fellow sister who needed a little extra care and love this season, especially. A fellow human who needed a miracle for her kids. A miracle her entire family could believe in.
The miracle of taking care of each other.
Plain and simple; love and kindness. Nothing extravagant, nothing mind-boggling, nothing crazy, just others bearing responsibility for another.
I can’t say that I wouldn’t have asked questions back in the day if someone would have asked me to help.
Back in the day, my head used to ask questions like:
Is this person worthy of this donation?
Will someone else help if I don’t (Probably, so I will just wait…)
I need to check what others are doing?
Does every one else think this is a good idea?
Is it safe?
How far out of my comfort zone will this take me?
But I don’t really ask those questions anymore, because it’s not really the questions that are important or that seem to matter.
My questions now look a little different:
- Does Jesus heart break for this? It’s YES, every time.
- What action do you need to me take? Start something, rally people around something, give out of my own pocket? Come alongside someone else? Be present, show up, listen?
Christmas is coming…and Christmas is a miracle in itself.
- We anticipate the birth of a Savior whose heart broke for his people. The messy, unworthy, and broken people. That’s me.
- We anticipate the birth of a baby whose parents were refugees bundling up their new born baby in a strange and unfamiliar place.
- We anticipate the birth of the one whose purpose is to rescue and redeem us.
And here is the best part. The part that I just can’t wrap my heart around, the fact that we-me and you- get to anticipate how we can bring the good, beautiful, healing news of this tiny, humble, rescuer to those around us.
Wrapping someone in a warm blanket who shivers in the cold.
Giving to a stranger who has lost something dear.
Visiting the prisoner who is confined by the bars of guilt built around them.
Providing for the kid who is growing up on a different side of the tracks.
Helping a single mom dream again.
Sharing a meal and friendship with someone who doesn’t’ run in your circles.
A hug, text, prayer for the one who has lost their marriage, their child, or a loved one.
Giving someone the gift to hope again in humanity.
Being responsible for one another may look different in different circumstances, but in all reality it all pretty much looks the same.
WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ONE ANOTHER:
I want this quote to be action oriented in my life. I want it to burn fiercely inside me, but more importantly take action outside me through my hands and feet, not just at Christmas, but for the rest of my life: