Hello, my friend!
Can I ask you something? Is there something that you are really good at? I mean, you have practiced that thing a lot, and you’ve got it down! When people think of you, they think of that thing you’re exceptional at doing. For instance, my sister knew at a very young age that she wanted to teach music. She’s taught music forever and is involved in more community music groups than I can count. When you think of my sister, you think of music. My brother has loved bicycles since I can remember. He has raced them, built them, had a bike repair shop, and made several long-distance bike trips. When you think of my brother, you think of bikes.
Darned if I don’t want to be really great at something. I didn’t seem to happen upon “my thing” as early as my siblings did.
My book club read a book a few years ago that I found rather depressing. In it, it talked about “the 10,000-hour rule.” (Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell) Mr. Gladwell explained that a person needs to work at their chosen skill for 10,000 hours to achieve expertise. If someone set aside 3 hours per day to work at their thing, achieving their goal would take 3,333 days, a little over nine years. Come on! I don’t have that kind of time! I’m not getting any younger!
But let me tell you about someone else I once knew who was truly an expert in her field. Her name was Tissy.
When you thought of Tissy, you thought of love.
I was in the same Bible study as Tissy several years ago. She was one of those people that everyone seemed to want to be around. If ever anyone mentioned her name, it was said with a smile. I think I heard about her before I met her.
“You know Tissy, right?” (smile)
When I met her, she was battling cancer. But you’d hardly know it from her demeanor. She always had a smile, a kind word, or a hug to give away. I remember conversing with her more than once when she’d ask how everything was going with me. More than once, I whined on about something, and she’d have something encouraging to offer me. More than once, after one of these conversations, I’d ask myself, “Wait. Did you just complain to Tissy about that little thing? And she has cancer? Shouldn’t you be the one doling out encouragement? To her?” She had a way of making you feel like you were the most important person in the room when she spoke to you.
Sweet Tissy went home to heaven in September of 2014.
Her memorial service was (pausing here to think of a word) . . . amazing. I know, everyone says that word so much, but it was indeed just that.
First of all, the church was packed. Extra chairs were set up along the sides to accommodate everyone; still, some had to stand in the back. We wore bright pink and yellow because those were Tissy’s favorite colors. And you know the time set aside in many funerals for folks to go up and share a special memory? Well, we would have been there for 10,000 hours if they allowed that, so just her family spoke. And one very dear friend. Her friend, Carly, who Tissy referred to as her “spiritual daughter.” I’ll never forget what Carly said about Tissy.
“She threw love around like confetti.”
Gosh, that was so true. I’d never heard that expression before that day, but it was absolutely what Tissy did. I remember Carly saying it and pausing a moment. I’m so glad she did because it needed to sink in.
Confetti is fun and celebratory. It’s colorful and goes everywhere! It sticks to things and is hard to get rid of. It makes us smile and look up and cheer.
Maybe that’s what I want to be good at—throwing love around like confetti. Like Tissy did.
Tissy’s service ended on an unconventional note. The song “Happy Day” was played as we all bounced big colorful beach balls around the church, as though we were at an outdoor concert. Perfection! Of course, we were all sad to have lost such a precious person, but she was no longer suffering. We knew she loved Jesus, and we knew where she was, where she is. While we were bouncing beach balls around her church, she was undoubtedly throwing love around like confetti in her new heavenly home.
Do I have 10,000 hours to devote to trying to love as well as Tissy did? Oh yeah. Lord willing, I’d love to try.
Whether it’s a handful of hours, more years, or even more decades, I want to be an expert at loving people. I better get practicing!
I’m throwing some love your way! I hope some lands on you and sticks!
Written with love – – – Patti XOXO
“Since God chose you to be the holy people He loves,
you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness,
humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults,
and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you,
so you must forgive others. Above all,
clothe yourselves with LOVE,
which binds us all together in perfect harmony.”
Colossians 3:12-14 (NLT)