Invested in other people’s lives

We have a Board member at Our Place of Hope named Shari. She is definitely not looking for any recognition or any self-promotion. But her heart is something I wanted us to see so I asked if I could share some things about her in a Friday email.

Shari has her own tax service… and Shari works really hard in that tax service. But that is not really what this email is about.

It is about what else Shari does. Shari devotes from January to April to taking care of people’s taxes, and then she spends the rest of the year helping take care of other people – running people to doctor’s appointments who have no way of getting there, taking them to the bank, taking people grocery shopping, taking care of basic needs in people’s lives. Most of the people are elderly and/or dealing with serious physical challenges and would have no way of taking care of these needs without someone like Shari in their lives.

This really is a picture of a life that is an offering… an investment in other people’s lives.

Shari gives her time, her talent, her personality, to invest in others. She works four months out of the year… but she works in order to be able to invest in other people’s lives.

Now I am not saying that everybody needs to or can follow that model – you are only going to work four months out of the year. She chooses to do that. But it is a great inspiration and a great picture for all of us that our life is really an investment.

And even our jobs (regardless of what our profession is), our jobs are not just about ourselves or even just how much money we can accumulate. Our jobs are an opportunity to invest in other people’s lives… not only that we have something to offer financially but to invest our time, talents, and encouragement in those we work with or for on a regular, daily basis.

Even someone who does not make a lot of money can still invest their lives in those around them. I have no idea how much money Shari makes but my guess is that she is not financially wealthy by most standards. That is not the point for her. It is about being there for others. It is not a hand out, but a hand up.

Even people who do not make a lot of money, they still have time and talent and encouragement that can be offered and invested in other people’s lives.

And that makes a world of difference.

As I have talked with Shari, she does not think that what she does is anything spectacular. She considers it ordinary. She commented to me, “Isn’t that the way we are supposed to be? Helping others?”

We really do need one another.