Happy August, dear reader; how many cat naps before you head #B2S?
Today, I'm thinking about my colleague and friend, Sara.
From the first time I met her, when I was speaking and she was a participant in one of my sessions, I saw the light in Sara, in her eyes, in her smile, in how she carried herself. After that brief time together, I was happy to reconnect on Facebook, then at a poolside PD that I was hosting. She came for a visit to our School of Character, then traveled with me to a Character Counts! workshop in Dallas. I went to her school once, to check on her, now she comes back to our pool for our annual summertime coffee chat. Most recently, she invited me to go see Brené Brown speak, a highlight of my summer, for sure. We live an hour apart, so in between our get-togethers, we keep in touch by text.
I'm so blessed to have someone like Sara in my life.
She's the kind of friend who thrives on repositioning Post Turtles!
For those of you unfamiliar with this term (like I was), I consulted AI.
About a year ago, in between those visits which feel too far and few between, I got a text from Sara. She'd just randomly reconnected with a friend from her church who had fallen on hard times. After they visited, Sara told this girl she'd pray for her and they parted ways. But Sara did more than pray for her; she reached out to me. With no backstory whatsoever, she said that an educator friend of hers was planning a move to my town and she'd love for me to keep her in mind if I hear of any job openings in our district. Essentially, her friend was that misplaced turtle, and Sara wanted my help to get her back on track.
I wasn't in a good place when that text came in. Exhausted and out of sorts, I was struggling. Our grand-daughter was due even as our own baby, now an adult, was struggling as well. I thought about ignoring her text, because I was stretched thin, and didn't feel like I had anything to give. I was in the middle of convincing myself that I didn't even have any connections to anyone in my district anymore when I felt a nudge to go the extra mile. To get out of my own head and help Sara's friend because she wouldn't have reached out if it wasn't important.
Taking that turtle off of the fence post isn't enough for someone like Sara. Nope. She needed someone like me to feed it so that it had the fuel it needed to continue down its path. So instead of telling Sara that I couldn't help her turtle friend, I found myself reaching out to said friend and offering assistance. Turns out we have a lot in common and, with her expertise and my endorsement, she did land a job in our district.
We can't do life for other people; in fact, it's important to give people the dignity of their experiences. But what we can do is make our prayers actionable by finding ways to lighten their loads, shine a light on their paths, nourish them mind, body and soul, affirm them for who they are and serve them as they become who they are meant to be.
Sara invited me to help her reposition her Post Turtle and I'm so grateful that she did. This morning, I had the pleasure of an end-of-summer coffee chat, not with Sara, but with that Post Survivor; it made my soul sing to see her thriving, all because someone like Sara cared enough to give her a lift off of that post, a testament to the power of prayer plus action.
Have you ever been that Post Turtle?
How'd you get up there? Who was your Sara?
When have you been that special someone like Sara?
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