Prayers and Love

 {we heart it}

I know my last post was looking forward to a great weekend, and thanks to an incredible, thoughtful, and wonderful husband it was a great weekend.  So refreshing and recharging, I am beyond grateful for this past weekend.  I promise to post pictures soon and gush about how much fun we had.  But this morning, something else is on my heart, something that is tugging at both my attention and my emotions.

In the past few months, several of the people closest to me have endured some really tough stuff.  Really tough.  Many are enduring these things today.  And though I’ve always known life isn’t easy and life isn’t fair, something about the past few months have hit this point home in an unsettling way.  I think about these people who are my friends, my family, my mentors, and to see them carry so much loss, confusion, pain and questioning just sucks.  There’s no other way to say it, it sucks.  Many of them are major pillars of strength for others, and even through their pain, they remain solid and steady for others.  At the glance of an outsider, all is fine, all is normal.  But underneath that calm and that strength, I know there is more, much more, than people see.  They manage to keep it together, to find hope in their situation, while I sit and wonder, how could this happen, how do they manage, how are they so strong?  So this got me thinking about all the silent pain people carry with them, the thoughts underneath their smiles, and the worry that surrounds their heart.  It made me wonder how many more of my friends, students, family, coworkers, and mentors are dealing with their own silent battles.  How many are distracted and scared, how many are broken and hopeless?  I realize I probably won’t ever know this answer, or know all the details of the lives of people around me, but I am reminded to watch how I treat others and to take the extra minute to respond with care.  I want to be thoughtful with my words, patient in my responses, slower in my conversations, and curious in my relationships.  I want to take time to tend to the people I love even when they appear strong and put together.  I want to remember life isn’t always what it seems, and people aren’t always what they appear to be.  I want to remind others to do the same, to give people the benefit of the doubt, and know that life is complicated, people are going through a lot.  I am continuing to send desperate prayers to God and constant thoughts to my loved ones, praying and hoping that their pain is lifted.  And I’m also trying to remember the pain others feel that I cannot see and be more mindful , present, and patient in my interactions with others.  May God continue to give my loved ones, you, and the millions of the people I do not even know strength, wisdom, calm, and hope.

Thanks for listening today…I know it wasn’t particularly uplifting, encouraging, or witty, but it was on my heart and needed some space to be.  Much love to you all.