Better than Before
These sweet friends always leave me better than before through their encouraging words and joyful demeanors.
I would consider myself to be a very values-led person. Values are those things that hold deep meaning in our lives. Among my values are intentionality, tenacity, authenticity (a lot of 'ity' words, I know), as well as faithfulness and contentment. Check out my Instagram if you are interested in seeing the list of values I had posted on my wall during my freshman and sophomore years of college.
A new value that I have developed throughout my experience of emerging adulthood is the idea that proper stewardship of my resources and the resources in my community means that I ought to leave things better than I found them. I think we all can relate to being in a public place and stumbling upon a mess left by someone else. Many of us can even relate to being that person who leaves a mess behind. It's one of those situations that we tend to just expect, but I don't think that's right. That's not how God intended us to live--leaving messes and pain in our wake.
One memory I have of this is from a time that I was browsing some clothing racks at the store a few weeks back. I noticed that several sweaters were falling off their hangers, and below the rack sat a pile of clothes. To avoid raising suspicion that I had been the person to knock everything over, I quickly walked away. Looking back, I sincerely doubt that anyone would have blamed me for the mess. In fact, I would go so far as to say that it likely wasn't a single person who knocked everything down. Likely, it was several people knocking things down one sweater at a time.
Isn't that how the biggest messes, the deepest hurts come to be? The fiery leaves that have blown from the trees did not disappear with one gust of wind. Rather, it was many winds blowing over the course of weeks that caused the leaves to leap into the clouds. So it is with the messes we find around us and in the hearts of those around us. It is one little thing being knocked down at a time, one little hurtful word on top of the next, that can leave a person or place in shambles. It makes me wonder what the world would look like if we actively sought out the betterment of our environments and the people around us. Friends, what will you do this week to leave your world and the people in it better than before?