Visits

Two old friends came back to town to visit over this past weekend (they currently live and work on a different island), and they brought a few new friends with them. One old friend crashed on my couch for a few nights while the rest stayed in a hostel, but we all had lots of time to hang out and catch up on each others' lives. J, one of my bestest friends in the world ever, had the following conversation with me one day.

J: Do you know what I like about you?
Me: No.
J: I like how you care about other people.
Me: All of us do that. There's not a single one of us that doesn't care about other people.
J: But it's the way you do it. Everybody in your life knows that you care about them. We're not all like that.
Me: Really? I think we all do a good job of that.
J: *Proceeds to question everyone in the room and ask them if they know that I care about them. Everyone said yes.* See? Everyone knows you care.
Me: Well, that's because you're all my friends, and I've known you for a long time. Of course you know I care about you.
J: But it's the WAY you do it. It's not just KNOWING that you care about us, it's how you show us. I like how you meet people's needs and take care of them. I really like that about you.
Me: Well, thanks...

Anyways, the reason I say that isn't to brag or to point out how good I am at taking care of people, but to say that even as we were having that conversation, I was wondering to myself if it's really true that EVERYONE knows that I care about them. I would like everyone to know that, and I might do a good job of conveying that message to some people. But what about my 9th graders? What about my new boss? What about my Indonesian neighbors? What about people who are stressful to work with or people who just push my buttons all. day. long? Do I show them that I still care about them too?

It's good to know that my friends know how much I care. I haven't always been like that. But if I'm called to love - and I know that I am - then I need to make sure EVERYONE knows that I care.