Involved with People

My dad said something to me on Sunday morning that surprised me - a compliment. I'd handed him some information about some jobs at my company that had just come available, for him to pass on to a recent immigrant from Brazil who is looking for work and attends his church. He said (in continuation of an ongoing conversation we've been having), "This is why you need to be in a church that involves you in helping people - you come alive when you're helping people." It's true, something I've realized about myself in the last month or so, but not something I ever expected to hear from my dad. And it encouraged me to have him notice.

It came home to me again last night as I was out with a friend. We went to a funky little tea house in Kensington, and the inside of the building was packed, but it was a nice night, cool but not freezing cold, so we sat on this little porch they have in the back of their building. The girl working in the shop brought us candles for our table, and we sat in the dim light, drank tea and caught up. And as I sat, I thought about how much I was enjoying this moment, how it was one that would be memorable, and yet, it was something quite commonplace. There is nothing that makes me feel more alive than being with people I love - broken, struggling, beautiful, messy, god-loving (0r not) people. Sitting and basking like at the Jacob and Lily house concert I went to a month or two ago, or sipping tea and listening to a friend share the things God is doing in her life, and then praying for her.

I still find it funny, that for someone who needs so much alone time, I come alive when I'm around people and caring for people. Still working on the balance that will prevent quick development of compassion fatigue. Still working to create a cycle in which as I care for others I am also being cared for, but I am spending my life on people, because they're these beautiful, tarnished, through a mirror darkly kind of pictures of the image of God, and when I'm involved, I not only meet them, but I meet Him.