Influences

Life is full of people who will make you laugh, cry, smile until your face hurts, and so happy that you think you'll burst. But the ones who leave their footprints on your soul are the ones who keep your life going.
Natalie Bernot

Google only came up with pages and pages of quotes by this lady with no mention of information about her...the other references were to a high school athlete. So no background here to help me understand this lady's life. But with this quote the context probably doesn't matte all that much....

This quote really strikes me. It sends me back down memory lane - thinking of those times in my life when I'm genuinely laughed or smiled until my face hurt (those times are few and far between - usually just faint glimmers of hope in a sea of pain and difficulty. There is an exception of a couple ladies who have had this gift of being able to always relate to me in the way I needed at any given moment. It was truly amazing to experience that and I hope I will again in the future.)

I can definitely recall countless people who've brought tears to my eyes and times when I've thought those tears would never stop and I'd drown in them.

There have been those hopeful moments like graduation, marriage and my children's birth when I could literally feel my heart swell with joy.

I am sure we all could look back and see the peaks and valleys, highs and lows, triumphs and struggles. Our experiences are filled with love and hate, joy and loss, trust and fear. Those struggles are affected by the people in our lives, both uplifting influences and detrimental at times. People come and go in our lives like actors on a stage. We see them for a time and then they are gone. Sometimes they reappear, sometimes they are lost forever. Moving around from place to place - changes for various reasons. It is sad to see some strong friendships fade due to time and distance - even more so if sad circumstances pull friends apart. Regardless of the reason, letting go of something special is hard to do when it's meant so much to us. We want to hold on and cling to not just the memories, but the people.

Because we know to the core of our soul that we need companionship. We need love and hope and acceptance. We need those kind words when the walls are caving in and we are struggling to breathe. We need to know when we mess up we are still loved and not alone.

I have been blessed to have known a few people in my life who have left their footprints on me. One unlikely person taught me at a young age that anyone can be that person in your life. A couple others have reinforced many of the things that man taught me. In my life, the ones who left a mark where the ones that not only said but acted in a way to dispel any doubt that I am ok just the way I am...there is nothing that could make them not love me. They supported me with kindness and gentleness when I was afraid. They sometimes firmly but tenderly pushed a little when I needed it...all while still communicating unconditional love and confident patience that in times of conflict I would eventually reach that better place we hoped for. Those are the ones that didn't just make me feel like I was a better person, they made me BE a better person. In the moments when doubt was seeking total control, fear was overwhelming and pain was closer than my shadow, they communicated the very heart of God Himself to me and helped give me more courage, strength and will to fight.

We could surely make a difference in many lives dealing with all the pain going on in the world if we committed ourselves to do the hard and unselfish things - even when it hurts us. A willingness to die to self out of love for another who's struggling, hurting, crying out is the heart of what God did for us - the heart of what He wants us to do for others. We come in contact with many hurting people each day. May we all open our eyes to those around us and put aside our desires to be the one in their lives to leave a footprint on their soul.