"People may not remember exactly what you did, or what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel."
Those words resonate with my soul. They remind me to cherish those around me. They remind to love. Deeply. Passionately. But it encourages me to do more than simply that. Those words encourage me to not just to love, but to tell others how much I love them. I love those around me so, so much sometimes it hurts. But oftentimes I forget to tell them how much they mean to me. There have been so many moments over these past years where I have realized how important it is to tell others how much you treasure them.
The first was a couple years ago at a speech competition. We'd gone back to the hotel and my dad called my mom. When my mom finished the phone call, we immediately knew something was wrong. Mom sat us three girls down on the bed and, through blurry eyes, preceded to tell us that our oldest sister, Kristen, was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Sometimes you don't realize how precious someone is until you might lose them. I remember the fear that went through my heart. I remember trying to hold myself together, gather my thoughts, and force out the question we were all wondering: would she die? And I remembering breaking down in my sister's arms. I saw life is such perfect constrats of black and white in life. I saw so clearly what was important and how much time I had wasted on what wasn't. We praised God when we learned that Kristen's tumor wasn't cancerous, but I will never forget how I learned to stop being distracted by the petty things on life.
The second thing that made me realize how fragile life is was when my uncle was shot. I'll make it short. My uncle stopped by the side of the road to see if a broken down vehicle needed help. No one was there. He continued towards home, stopping to talk to his neighbor about the broken down vehicle he'd seen. As dusk as setting, two men emerged from the trees and started shooting at them. My uncle and his neighbor were both shot multiple times and soon rushed to the emergency room. Both men survived, but face a long daunting road to recovery. I realize through that experience that life is extremely fragile and can be snatched from us without a moment's notice. That's why it's essential to let people know how much they mean to us. Because, in the blink of the eye, it can all be gone.
The third thing was my beautiful friend Grace. I met Grace when I went on a mission trip a couple years ago and soon became best friends with her. Grace's family moved to the Dominique Republic to be missionaries and we hadn't had much contact over the past few months. All that changed when she called me one day. I could tell something was wrong, but had no idea what. Grace said, "I need to tell you something. We're back in the states." I thought that's what she had to tell me, but she continued. "...because my mom died." At sixteen years old, Grace's mom was gone. Forever. 'The future," Grace said, "is the hardest part. We were gonna go back packing through Europe next summer. We can't do that now. She'll never see me in my wedding dress. She'll never get to hold my grandchild. She was so excited about being a grandma." While talking on the phone, I noticed my metals on my dresser. I'd just gotten back from the speech tournament in Council Bluffs which was, hands down, my best tournament yet. But in that moment, I hated those metals with everything I was. I saw so clearly what was important. And it wasn't those metals. Not at all. I remember once when we had to take cover because there was a tornado warning. I ran back to my room to grab my blanket and saw my metals hanging on my dresser. So temporal. Please. Don't become distracted by things that don't matter.
Having said all that...I hope you understand that I'm not just a "sweet person." I've learned time and time again how fragile life is and how it is vital to tell people how much they mean to you. A simple "I love you" or "I hope you're having a good day" or "here's how much you mean to me" or "I appreciate you because..." Go out and love relentlessly. Love passionately. Love when it's painful. Love when you don't feel like it. Please, I beg you, stop being distracted by things that don't matter. Stop being distracted by winning and earning metals. Stop trying to be the prettiest, smartest, funniest, strongest...best. Stop striving for temporal, perishable things. I pray...that at the end of my life...and even now people will not remember me as someone who was great at forensics or funny or anything else, but someone who loved deeply from her heart. "Love," Jesus said, "must be sincere."
So what are you waiting for? Go out and love with relentless abandon.
Those words resonate with my soul. They remind me to cherish those around me. They remind to love. Deeply. Passionately. But it encourages me to do more than simply that. Those words encourage me to not just to love, but to tell others how much I love them. I love those around me so, so much sometimes it hurts. But oftentimes I forget to tell them how much they mean to me. There have been so many moments over these past years where I have realized how important it is to tell others how much you treasure them.
The first was a couple years ago at a speech competition. We'd gone back to the hotel and my dad called my mom. When my mom finished the phone call, we immediately knew something was wrong. Mom sat us three girls down on the bed and, through blurry eyes, preceded to tell us that our oldest sister, Kristen, was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Sometimes you don't realize how precious someone is until you might lose them. I remember the fear that went through my heart. I remember trying to hold myself together, gather my thoughts, and force out the question we were all wondering: would she die? And I remembering breaking down in my sister's arms. I saw life is such perfect constrats of black and white in life. I saw so clearly what was important and how much time I had wasted on what wasn't. We praised God when we learned that Kristen's tumor wasn't cancerous, but I will never forget how I learned to stop being distracted by the petty things on life.
The second thing that made me realize how fragile life is was when my uncle was shot. I'll make it short. My uncle stopped by the side of the road to see if a broken down vehicle needed help. No one was there. He continued towards home, stopping to talk to his neighbor about the broken down vehicle he'd seen. As dusk as setting, two men emerged from the trees and started shooting at them. My uncle and his neighbor were both shot multiple times and soon rushed to the emergency room. Both men survived, but face a long daunting road to recovery. I realize through that experience that life is extremely fragile and can be snatched from us without a moment's notice. That's why it's essential to let people know how much they mean to us. Because, in the blink of the eye, it can all be gone.
The third thing was my beautiful friend Grace. I met Grace when I went on a mission trip a couple years ago and soon became best friends with her. Grace's family moved to the Dominique Republic to be missionaries and we hadn't had much contact over the past few months. All that changed when she called me one day. I could tell something was wrong, but had no idea what. Grace said, "I need to tell you something. We're back in the states." I thought that's what she had to tell me, but she continued. "...because my mom died." At sixteen years old, Grace's mom was gone. Forever. 'The future," Grace said, "is the hardest part. We were gonna go back packing through Europe next summer. We can't do that now. She'll never see me in my wedding dress. She'll never get to hold my grandchild. She was so excited about being a grandma." While talking on the phone, I noticed my metals on my dresser. I'd just gotten back from the speech tournament in Council Bluffs which was, hands down, my best tournament yet. But in that moment, I hated those metals with everything I was. I saw so clearly what was important. And it wasn't those metals. Not at all. I remember once when we had to take cover because there was a tornado warning. I ran back to my room to grab my blanket and saw my metals hanging on my dresser. So temporal. Please. Don't become distracted by things that don't matter.
Having said all that...I hope you understand that I'm not just a "sweet person." I've learned time and time again how fragile life is and how it is vital to tell people how much they mean to you. A simple "I love you" or "I hope you're having a good day" or "here's how much you mean to me" or "I appreciate you because..." Go out and love relentlessly. Love passionately. Love when it's painful. Love when you don't feel like it. Please, I beg you, stop being distracted by things that don't matter. Stop being distracted by winning and earning metals. Stop trying to be the prettiest, smartest, funniest, strongest...best. Stop striving for temporal, perishable things. I pray...that at the end of my life...and even now people will not remember me as someone who was great at forensics or funny or anything else, but someone who loved deeply from her heart. "Love," Jesus said, "must be sincere."
So what are you waiting for? Go out and love with relentless abandon.
"The way to love anything is to realize that it might be lost."
- G.K. Chesterton
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