More often than not, I fail to notice those around me.
When I’m at the grocery store, I’m typically focused on my list and on getting finished in a timely manner (without spending a fortune…which right now seems like an impossible task…but that’s another post for another day).
When I’m at church, I’m trying to get my kids checked in and get seated before service begins.
Even when I’m not focused on a specific task before me (like when I’m waiting in the pickup line at my kids’ schools, for instance), I’m often distracted.
My phone is within arms reach and social media is always there.
Waiting to keep my mind occupied.
But one day last week, I took the time to notice those around me.
I went to the college where my brother is a professor. He was speaking at chapel. When I arrived, I didn’t see him and decided to take a seat at the back (which I later learned might have been more than a coincidence. It might have been, in fact, God’s plan all along.)
I sat down and turned my attention to the stage as the service began.
But then I noticed her.
A young lady sitting near me. I couldn’t see her full face but I could see her profile, and she appeared sad.
I didn’t want to stare or pry so I looked away, but my attention kept drifting back to her.
I felt this inner knowing that I needed to say something to her….that I was supposed to say something to her.
“But that’s weird,” I thought, “and what would I say anyway?”
I pushed the nudge away.
But then…it kept returning. No matter how many times I pushed the nudge aside, it kept popping back up.
As we rose for the final song of chapel, I felt that nudge again. (I’m calling it a nudge, but really, I believe it was the Holy Spirit, pushing me to take action.)
But this time, the nudge was stronger, specific, and clear –
“She needs to know she’s seen.”
Listen, I’m an introvert. I don’t typically approach people I don’t know and tell them strange messages that I received on their behalf.
I’m also a bit insecure, and this felt a little weird to me. I could already feel the nervous sweats coming on.
But I couldn’t shake that phrase – “She needs to know she’s seen.”
And so I told her.
As soon as chapel ended, I made my way over to her and stumbled through what I thought she needed to know.
It turns out she was having a rough day. Rough month, in fact.
I’m not inside her head, so I can’t know for sure that what I said was exactly what she needed to hear.
But it felt right. As we sat and talked for a few minutes about the challenges she was facing, it felt like I had followed the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Like I had told her something she really needed to know on this particular day.
As I left, I thought to myself, “I wonder how many times I’ve been around someone else who needed to be seen…who needed to know that they weren’t alone…who needed someone to notice them…and I failed to do it because I was too focused on my own agenda?”
I wonder how many people I’ve missed?
Today, can I challenge you to notice those around you? Put down the phone and look around while you wait for your kids after school. Take your eyes off the grocery list and take a look at the faces of those around you while you shop.
Be the one who notices that person who is feeling like a nobody.
Be the one who sees and acknowledges the person who is grieving.
