If you’re anything like me, the needs you see in people hurting all around you have a deep impact on your heart.  You hurt when others hurt and often find yourself trying to deal with the strong desire of wanting to help everyone who crosses your path by somehow leaving their day a little better than it was before.  This isn’t so much because you’re a people-pleaser or as some in early school years called it “brown nosing,” but because you feel one of your greatest purposes in life is to serve rather than be served.

Our cancer journey has opened my eyes to a whole new world of needs in which I never realized existed.  Even if I had known they existed prior to our son’s diagnosis, I would have doubted I could help because I had never personally walked a day in a cancer family’s shoes.  In the social media world we live in, it has become very easy to sympathize with people who are traveling a rough road by clicking a like, heart or sad button and commenting something like “Prayers sent your way. Let me know if you need anything.”

Before cancer, I’ll admit I was guilty of this.  Yes, I sympathized with them.  Yes, I thought about and prayed for them, often.  Yes, I wanted to do whatever they needed me to do.  But, how many people ever replied back with a specific request?  Zero.

The past two years have changed how I feel led to respond.  The words, “Let me know if you need anything,” rarely come out of my mouth–not because I don’t want to help, but because I now know people who are going through something awful aren’t sitting around making a list of their needs and who they can ask to fill those needs.  They need love through prayers and service.  They need people willing to pick up the phone, ask them out for coffee or ice cream and lend an ear.  They need people willing to help find ways to improve the person’s or family’s quality of life while dealing with disease/treatment/death, such as a meal, help with housework or organizing a fundraiser to help with a specific medical device, reliable vehicle to get to/from medical appointments, bills, etc…

One doesn’t need to look very hard to find a need.  Truth is, there are more needs than there is time available and it can feel overwhelming.

• Where do I start?  I assure you, all sincere gestures of help will be appreciated–just make sure to follow through with your committment.
• Who do I help? Look around you.  I don’t know if there is such a thing, but if you run with a crowd who never has a need, then visit a nursing home, women’s shelter, homeless shelter.  Get active in your church or simply sit in the lobby of a hospital or entrance to a grocery store and talk to the first person who makes eye contact with you.
• When? Now is always better than later.
• Why?  Our whys could be different, but mine is due to my belief we should love one another, carry each other’s burdens and serve one another humbly in love.

Obviously, one person can’t help everyone.  But, if everyone chose to invest time and effort into at least 1 person/family, it would make a HUGE difference.  I heard the following quote the other day.  In my opinion, it couldn’t be more true.

“Do for one what you wish you could do for everyone.”

Who is on your heart today? What person or family would benefit from your investment of time, money or effort?  How would your investment make their life a little better? When will you serve them? What is your why?

Thanks for letting me share what’s been on my heart.  Enjoy your summer and stay cool, my friends!