... just to be there.

"Being there" seems to become more and more part of my job. Sometimes that means I am offering a shoulder for someone to cry on or a hug for a child, in whose family and culture physical touch is not the most common way of presenting "safety, belonging or affection". Other times, I am the ear listening to stories of pain and loss or I am the hand to squeeze to make the feeling of being alone in distress go away. Some evenings I am the counterpart on facebook chats, where teens, who are mostly very shy, open up about their home situations and emotional pain.

It doesn`t cost anything "to be there", but it takes a lot sometimes. It is a great privilege when one`s presence is so valued and filled with significance in the eyes of someone else. But often times, the lack of immediate, visible results leaves a trace of inaction after a moment of "being there". So, I am trying to remind myself, that I am serving a God, who made me a "Human Being", not a "Human Doing". Especially when lots of action is needed, I would like to be someone who stops unexpectedly to be there for the one, even when it wasn`t part of the plan.