“My daughter has the biggest heart and sometimes I think she’s teaching me more than I’m teaching her.
When her dad went to pick her up from school, the speech therapist told him that she was in my daughter’s class picking up a student for therapy when another kid yelled, ‘Yay bye! We’re not going to miss you!’
My daughter Eliana left her chair and went to tell the little boy she would miss him.
She gave him a hug as he had tears in his eyes and told him what they said wasn’t nice, and she wanted him to know he would be missed.
At some point in our lives, we’ve either been mean, been the target of someone being mean, we’ve watched someone being mean to someone else, or all of the above.
As a child and even as an adult, it often feels like the easier thing to do is to sit and watch it happen. Perhaps even to have a nervous laugh as you look around to see if others are laughing.
Truly loving people is risky if it’s done the right way.
Because you can’t just say it, you have to show it, and showing it makes you vulnerable because there’s no guarantee that you will be loved in return.
I asked Eliana what was it that made her get up.
She said, ‘Well you don’t really think about it, you just do it because I would want someone to do it for me.’
When she said that I thought, that’s it right there!
We just think too hard about it.
Loving is easier if you just do it.
Loving is easier if you treat others the way you would want to be treated.
Loving is easier if you love yourself and others the way the Father loves you.
Eliana loves to read about the fruits of the Spirit and she recites it every night.
As we were talking about what happened, she told me that you don’t have to read about it every day but instead, you should hold these characters in your heart and you can show it to people by loving them every day.
One of the ways she displayed this, is by speaking up for her friend who isn’t able to speak up for himself.
I am so proud of the way she shares her heart so freely and without restraint even in a world filled with so much pain.
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are the fruits of the Spirit.
My daughter doesn’t just recite them, she lives them and shares them with others.
It was truly a lesson for us all.
You have never looked into the eyes of someone that isn’t struggling with something.
Be kind, be gentle, be joy, be patient, be love.”
This story was submitted to Love What Matters by Claudia Campbell. You can follow her journey on Instagram. Submit your own story here and be sure to subscribe to our free email newsletter for our best stories, and YouTube for our best videos.
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