lightstock_78653_comp
Taken by Kevin Carden.  Direct link to photo on lightstock.

“Honey, appreciate having a healthy body while you still do.”  *Cringes*

I heard this on numerous occasions while working in retail, and I believe one other time outside of working.  Here’s the thing: my body might look healthy, but on the inside there’s a lot going on that’s not particularly good.  At the time, I was taking three different seizure medicines (only two now!) as well as other medicines to balance the negative effects of the seizure medicines.  In two days I’ll celebrate 10 months seizure free and thinking about that I’m actually getting choked up because of the ride that those 10 months have been.  However, the fact that at 18 years old I literally do not have a memory because of medicine terrifies me.  What does that mean for my future?  What does that mean for the business that I want to start?  I wish I could just get something done once in a while instead of side effects of medicine interfering.  So..

“You know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.  And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast.” 1 Peter 5:9-10 NLT

The main thing that working in retail taught me was not to assume anything about anyone.  Those people were wrong in assuming that my young, healthy looking body treats me well.  Oh, do I wish that it did.   They were well-intentioned, too.  But that didn’t mean that it was okay.  We have to approach every situation and every person with open ears and open hearts instead of with our assumptions of their situations, because every person has a story.

Even though this honestly hurt, it helped me to be able to see that I needed to be able to say “You don’t know what that person is going through”and ask why someone is acting the way that they are before responding. 1 Peter 5:9-10 promises that we will be restored from suffering, and we can rejoice in that truth together.   I’ll leave you with this:

“We love each other because he loved us first.” 1 John 4:19 NLT

It is natural for Christians living in true relationship with God to love others, because they have experienced the love of God.  It’s not something that should be painful, it might not be easy but as God molds us into the people that He wants us to be we will show others love more and more naturally.

(Visited 21 times, 1 visits today)

About Author

22 year old Liberty University student, Majoring in Biblical Studies, minoring in Sport Outreach. Epilepsy Awareness. Married to Jonathan, Momma to Evelyn Two amazing dogs.

You might also enjoy:

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

%d bloggers like this: