Here’s the deal. Five Minute Friday. You go find the little prompt at the wonderful Lisa-Jo’s blog, set the time and write for five minutes, and then just stop. Where you are, no edits, just publish raw words.
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I sat with this one for a while. After. After what? After this summer? After graduation?
What about a small after…what about simply, after I clean my room, after I go to dinner, after I finish my to-do list for the day?
But I landed with this: What do I want to be known for, after?
Not necessarily when I die, but when I walk away from a place, a conversation, a gathering.
We women, we judge and talk and stereotype way too quickly. When a conversation ends, what do I leave the person with?
What’s the after of me?
I want to be known for one thing, besides pointing to Jesus. If there’s any verse in the bible that I want to be attached with my name, I want it to be Philippians 1:9.
So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well.
After it’s all said and done, I want to love much and love well.
I want to pursue those around me and love them hard: ask – and truly care – about what’s going on in their lives.
I want to do a good job at loving them. I don’t want to be consumed with the little things that get caught in the in-between, I want to love them well. Whatever that space means for them. Do they love cupcakes? I’ll surprise them with one. A nice letter would mean more? That’s what I’ll do. Do they just need someone to sit with and talk to as they fold their laundry? I can do that.
Loving them well might mean knowing how they receive love.
When the conversation ends and we walk away to our own Next Thing, I want my ‘after’ to be one of love.
We leave people with an after-thought, an after-taste. I want mine to be Love.
Oh to not only leave an after of love but also live in a current state if love would be a wonderful world. I pray that we as women learn to love instead of judge and compare and I pray it begins with me. Thanks for your beautiful words.