Introvert. That's what I am. I have a hard time with crowds, with new places, with being outgoing, striking up conversations, unless I get my adequate "alone" time where I can recharge my batteries on my own…
When we moved here three years ago, it was a struggle everyday trying to figure out how to get my introverted self to find a sense of belonging, to get to know new people and let them get to know me. It was easier for me to stay home and hideout.
Then about ten months after the move, I was invited to a bible study where I met a few ladies. One of them stood out to me because her extrovertedness was just so mind-boggling to me. I felt like I met her and had instantly become her friend. At first I wondered how that could be, how a complete stranger could become a new friend in an instant, but I soon learned that was just one of the many gifts my friend possessed.
I've always said that I'm not good at keeping in touch with people, but I learned it can be easy if I just pop a note into someone's inbox when I think of them. I truly believe that whenever my friend thought about someone, she would send them a text or message letting them know so. She had such good timing, too. It seemed whenever I was a bit down, her messages would pop into my inbox with the cheerful start, "I was thinking of you today, friend."
I met quite a few people because of her, too. She would ask me, "Have you met my friend so-and-so yet? I think you two should meet." Or "I know someone whose child goes to the same school as yours…It would be great if you two became friends!" I eventually did meet those people and become friends with them…
So I give my friend a lot of credit for helping me with a rough transition and breaking through that barrier moving from living someplace that felt foreign to one that I'd now call home.
As I met others who knew her, they all mentioned how much they adored her and how grateful they were to have a friend like her. It truly is a testament to how you live your life when there are just so many people telling you just how wonderful that someone is.
I admired her way of life and how she lived it, how she loved Jesus, how she loved others and how she wasn't afraid to show it.
But it can be said that when a person has such a deep impact on others, such a wide reach into the hearts of many, that it leaves that much of a deeper hole when they are gone.
Such is true for my friend…when I heard that she had passed away two days before Christmas, I just started crying the moment I heard. I thought, "how silly…it's not like I've known her all that long or as well as others that I know." But that's the thing…it's not always about the time spent, but the depth of the impact that they had on you, because it also means that the emptiness you feel when they're gone is that much deeper, too.
She had such a big heart. A big heart who impacted many around her. A big heart who wasn't afraid to show love and care for everyone around her young and old.
Her last message to me simply said, "Thank you. Love you."
And then she was gone…
Depth of impact. The deeper the impact, the greater the emptiness...
