Today our speaker was a very sweet lady and the topic she spoke on was charity.
I am constantly thinking about, and missing, my friend Becky Smart. Becky passed away this summer and these past couple months have been the hardest months I have ever lived through. No one would ever know though because I have made a huge attitude adjustment since it happened. I have never been so smiley, or outgoing, or caring. When she passed I quickly realized how short life is and that every moment and person has to be cherished completely because you honestly never know when it will end.
The reason I'm combining the devotional and Becky is because Becky embodied charity more perfectly than any one I have ever met. I don't know where to begin or where to stop when describing all the flawless memories I have of her. Becky embraced the idea of selfless service and acted on it whenever possible.
Here are a couple examples that come to mind right away:
- Picking me up for school every day my sophomore year. This may not seem like a huge deal, but to me it was a blessing. She dealt with me running late practically every day, our slowwwww gate we used to have at the beginning of our driveway, and going out of her way to be at my house on time during snowy cold days.
- She always wrote people notes, just because. I still have a note from her I read as often I can. One Sunday she just decided to give me a long letter and framed picture. She was always so complimentary and made you feel so warm and fuzzy inside.
- Whenever she came home from school on the weekends, she carved out time of her busy schedule just to come and visit or take me out to lunch or buy me hot chocolate.
- During movies, she always offered everyone neck rubs and back massages. And they weren't lazy ones either! She got all the knots out and put all her strength into them.
- She was the most helpful person I have ever invited to go boating. Most of them time when you invite people, they just sit around, get in the way, and don't pay attention to anything happening. Becky on the other hand, never hesitated to ask what she could do to help. She was such a hard worker and always exceeded the expectations you had for the job you gave her.
I miss her more every single day. People say it gets easier with time, but that is so not true for me, and I don't see how it could be true for anyone. Its so hard to not be able to text her whenever, snap chat her any time, and its especially hard when I am back home and I don't see her at church and she isn't over visiting with my family.
Most of the time its easy to just smile it off when I feel myself choking up, but today in the devotional or last sunday in class when I can't crack a joke to distract myself are when I really start thinking about how much I miss my friend.
Even though it hurts more than I can describe, I still feel so much gratitude. Knowing I will see her again takes away some of the pain. Knowing she is happy and finally reunited with her Dad takes away some more of the pain.
All I am saying is love everyone. And don't do it half heartedly. Give it all and don't expect it to be returned. Love selflessly, just like Becky did.
Appreciate the smallest details of life. I will never forget the last night Becky, Beth and I were together. We had the time of our lives being our goofy selves. The next morning, Becky posted a novel on Facebook with all the memories we had just created. Most people would overlook small details like "jumping on sleepy heads" but that is an example of how Becky appreciated every second we spent together.
I have taken so much from her. I never realized until she was gone how often I think of her. There are so many things that remind me of her. I want to be able to love the way Becky loved everyone.
Ok so I realize this is kind of a heavy post but hey! Not everything is going to be peaches and daisies. This is real and this is what I was thinking about today during Institute.
If you take away anything from this entry, remember to serve your family, your friends, your roommates, the random guy on the street, the girl you sit next to in the library, your teacher, ANYONE AND EVERYONE. Because when you serve selflessly, you will learn to love that person more than you ever thought you could.
Have a good weekend!
So AMAZING! Stuffing our faces at dinner and being psychos a.k.a. being ourselves, attempting to get on a fake horse while people are staring, reminiscing about the good ol' days, jumping on sleepy-heads, watching an intense movie with noooo happy ending, making a one o'clock 7-11 run for hot cocoa and goodies, doing a little jig/acting like a drunk causing to spill that cocoa all over, Zoolander it up, giggle in bed til our tummies are not too happy, sleeping in, girl talk, having delicious crepes for breakfast and then sadly we say our goodbyes. Yeah I'll say that we know how to live! — with Beth Hansen and 2 others.
Claire, I would love to share this on Becky's blog. Pictures and all! It is perfect. Let me know how to make it happen. Love you!
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