Humbled

For those that don't know by now, I have a four legged best friend named Jackson and he is kind of my world. He's literally perfect. See.

Told you, perfect.

So, last night as my roommate and I were taking our dogs out, like we do every night before bed and my roommate turns to me and says, "I always try to be really discrete and quiet when we come out because I swear the crazy lady below us sits and LISTENS for when we go out so she can take her dog out at the same time..."

//Just a quick recap. This women really is crazy and very strange and yells a lot and talks about weird stuff and sometimes talks your ear off about that weird stuff. It can be rather awkward and frustrating at times. Especailly when you're in a hurry//

With that said, I didn't blame my roommate at all for how she felt. I felt instantly felt the same way. No, I don't want to sit and talk to a rando about life that doesn't matter to me in the least. I don't care about her old farm and old dogs and cows she used to have to carry. I am busy. I have my own crazy crap going on. I don't even have time or energy to blog reguarly. It's late. I'm tired. I had class. I had work. I had financial aid meetings. I have a 7:30 class tomorrow. I didn't even have time for a workout today. I still need to shower. I, me, my...

You see where I'm going with this don't you. 

As all this is rushing through my brain and my frustration with the older lady below begins to rage on, I turn to my roommate and go to say something but was INSTANTLY stopped by that Still Small Voice in my heart telling me not to speak it and withdrew my thought, so thankful I didn't actually say it. Wanna know what that thought was? I thought to myself, "Yeah, it's not our responsihilty to listen to her."

Gah. It's still not any better typing. It's still so ugly. So selfish. So cold. So not like at the person I want to be.

As I stood there in awe of my own self-centeredness, wouldn't you know that old lady came around the corner with her crazy dog and loud voice, making sure she knew she was coming to join us.

I was hit with the realization that I've always known but somehow momentarily let slip; as a lover of Christ, that makes me a lover of his creations. So, YES. It is in fact my responsibilty to listen to this woman. I should care about her and her desires and passions. I should take the time to be kind to her. Instead of thinking about my own selfish issues, I should be thinking about her dying husband that has suffered 4 strokes and doesn't have long to live who also is downstairs. Or, the fact that they probably don't have company very often and get lonely daily, or the fact that I see her ride the bus a lot so she probably doesn't have a car or consistent way of transportation, and maybe the reason she listens for us to come out is because that could be the only other interaction she has with someone else all day long.

All these thoughts rushing threw my head, I made a conscious effort to stand outside with the crazy lady downstairs and really listened to her stories and let her talk as much as she wanted. Even if her stories are all far fetched lies and complete bolognese, I listened.  

Then, this morning as I woke up and began my quiet time, God decided to show off His sense of humor and send me a little reminder in a not so subtle way.

Don’t act out of selfish ambition or be conceited. Instead, humbly think of others as being better than yourselves. Don’t be concerned only about your own interests, but also be concerned about the interests of others.

Philippians 2:3-4

Yep, that was my verse this morning.

Touché, Lord. Touché.

From now on, I'm really going to try and be more observant with my actions and thoughts toward others; not be so selfish and really put forth the compassion my heavenly Father shows me every.single.day.