last night as i sit on the porch with my dear friend anna, in the midst of a serious conversation, i reach over to the bush, pluck a few leaves. i break them and then smell them. without even thinking. anna looked at me like i was crazy. “i saw you do that on the way to dinner too” she tells me.
and it makes me laugh. i am completely a smell person. before i eat or drink anything i smell it. i break leaves and smell them while i am walking as if it were common. and it made me think of some of our conversation earlier in the evening…
it is so interesting to me the differences in people. it is interesting to me that two people can be enjoying a given situation equally but it look drastically different. one person could be LOVING what is going on and look like it is they are having the worst time but in actuality they are loving taking it all in. the other person is jumping or active and showing it.
it makes me realize how important it is to no judge by the outside. not to even for a minute assume i know and/or understand what someone else is thinking or feeling. i am super analytical and logical in my thinking and more often than not, when something makes sense in my logical thought process, it is really hard to understand what could possibly be going through the other person’s mind.
i think it is yet another reason why community is so important. i have learned so much on how to not let what i think get in the way of what someone else may think. to not assume. and sometimes i still suck at life. sometimes i still assume someone means something and they mean the farthest thing from that. and that is where learning good communication is so important. so life giving! you then get a chance to really understand someone and the relationship goes a little deeper. a little more vulnerable. greater capacity to get hurt but a greater capacity to feel loved.
and it is scary. i have been hurt and sometimes it is just plain scary to let someone in. sometimes it is hard to say or receive that encouraging word which strips back a layer of protection, letting my heart become that more vulnerable. but as i read this verse yesterday it made my heart so incredibly happy…
for this light and momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. – 2 corinthians 4:17
the eternal weight of glory…it is so heavy it is beyond all comparison. the possibility of being hurt. the being hurt…can’t even compare to that glory. hahahah
