Fiercehearted by Holley Gerth

Author:Holley Gerth
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Christian Living/Women;REL012130;REL012120;REL012000
ISBN: 9781441245267
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2017-07-30T16:00:00+00:00

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This big world we live in is made up of individual people struggling, trying, growing, living. We are not just a group of anonymous breathing creatures that coexist together, taking up our fair share of oxygen and soil. . . . We are meant to live with our eyes open. And it starts with looking at one person at a time.

—Katie Kenny Phillips

I PULL MY HAIR INTO A MESSY PONYTAIL, swipe gloss across my lips, and grab the first shirt I can reach in the closet. I’m not even sure if my earrings or shoes match my outfit. I’m tired and grumpy and don’t care about looking presentable on this particular morning. “It’s just a regular day. I’m just going to a coffee shop to work,” I tell myself. “I won’t see anyone I know anyway.”

I make it to the counter and ask for the caffeine-infused beverage I’m hoping will revive me. I add a day-old scone to my order, perhaps feeling pity for it because it looks like me—a little rough around the edges. As I turn to go to my seat, I hear my name. “Holley?” a feminine voice inquires. I look up to see a lovely creature standing in front of me. Shampoo-commercial curls, carefully applied mascara, and the boots I’ve seen all over the internet as the hot pick of the season. For a moment I consider pretending not to speak English. But before I can hatch an escape plan, she says, “I connected with you at a speaking engagement a couple of years ago.”

Alarm bells begin to go off in my mind. She saw me at a speaking engagement? With my makeup done and my best clothes on? She’s probably wondering if I have become homeless since that time.

I cross my arms and suddenly discover I have something in my teeth. This means I not only appear closed off but also inadvertently make a face at her as I try to dislodge whatever is likely to show itself should I dare to smile. All I can think about is me, me, me. And suddenly I hear a deep whisper down in my heart, “She is your assignment right now. She is the person I have put in front of you to love in this moment.”

I wish I could say I welcome this with maturity and gladness. That I instantly quote a Scripture passage or recall some tips from the “Three Ways to Be Kind” article I just read. But instead, I do the inner equivalent of hiding in a corner, which means I stand there awkwardly while this perfectly nice person waits for a response.

Then I actually do recall a line I read recently: “God does not show favoritism.”1 I occasionally feel pressure from well-meaning industry experts to “network” and “build relationships with influencers” and “be part of the most relevant tribe,” but I’ve settled into gut-knowing this is not the kingdom way. We are to love and see and treat everyone the same.

But this morning, right here, I realize I am still guilty of another kind of favoritism.

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