I have spent a lot of time thinking lately about people.
About children who need someone to notice them.
About elderly people who need someone to slow down.
About families carrying burdens no one sees.
About friends walking through hard seasons.
About the people God places in our path every single day.
I live in a family full of people who naturally move toward others, but truthfully, that is less about who we are and more about the people God has placed around us throughout our lives.
We have been loved well.
People showed up for us.
People prayed for us.
People taught us.
People poured into us during hard seasons.
People gave their time when they did not have to.
That lived example shaped us.
I have watched what it looks like to love people well through my nephew, Aidan. When he visits the nursing home, he makes his little rounds waving, smiling, giving hugs, and speaking to people.
What amazes me is that it does not seem to matter whether someone has visitors every day or rarely has visitors at all. There is something special about a child taking a moment to stop, smile, and say hello.
I have seen faces light up.
I have seen conversations begin.
I have seen people smile who seemed withdrawn just moments before.
Sometimes we think changing someone’s day requires something big, but often it is much simpler than that.
Sometimes all it takes is a smile, a hug, a wave, or a few minutes of your time.
People want to be seen.
People want to know they matter.
And sometimes the smallest acts remind them that they do.
We spend time with children. We serve. We show up. We answer phone calls. We sit in waiting rooms. We celebrate victories. We walk through losses.
Not because we always get it right.
We do not.
We miss opportunities.
We get busy.
We drop the ball sometimes.
But because people have walked alongside us through different seasons of life, we know what it feels like when someone chooses to stay, to serve, and to love well.
And once you have experienced that kind of love firsthand, it changes you.
It makes you want to give it away too.
Most of the time, loving people well simply looks like showing up.
Somewhere along the way, I realized that advocacy is not just a title or a role.
It is often an act of love.
Sometimes advocacy looks like speaking when someone cannot.
Sometimes it looks like listening.
Sometimes it looks like asking questions.
Sometimes it looks like staying when it would be easier to leave.
Sometimes it simply looks like making sure people remember they matter.
I think God was very intentional when He told us how to treat people.
Love your neighbor.
Care for widows and orphans.
Carry one another’s burdens.
Encourage one another.
Serve one another.
Those commands sound simple until they cost us time, comfort, energy, emotions, or inconvenience us.
The truth is, loving people well is rarely convenient.
It interrupts schedules.
It requires patience.
It asks us to notice things others miss.
It calls us to speak up sometimes and stay quiet other times.
And if I am being honest, sometimes it is exhausting.
But I have also learned something else.
You almost never regret time spent loving people.
I have learned more from children, elderly friends, hurting people, and quiet moments than I ever learned from rushing through life.
Everyone has something to offer.
Everyone has value.
Everyone deserves dignity.
And maybe one of the greatest gifts we can give each other is simply this:
To see people.
To love people.
To show up.
Because time spent matters.
People matter.
And when God opens doors for us to love others well, I pray we walk through them, even when it is inconvenient.