Devotion written by Amanda Villareal, Parent Aide Team Supervisor
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. – Philippians 2:3-4
I have been working with a parent aide who has a family that the mom is not open to hearing about God and is very closed-hearted. Her children are placed in a Christian home and are attending church regularly. The children want to talk about Jesus, but mom just does not want to hear it. It has been heavy on the parent aide’s heart. I was able to share this devotion with the parent aide as an encouragement on how they are making a mark in the lives of these children.
“Some people come into our lives, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never the same.” -Franz Peter Schubert
I saw this quote in a magazine and it stopped to make me think….who has left a footprint on my heart? And am I leaving footprints on someone else’s heart? What exactly does this really mean? A footprint is a mark left by, an impression made for purposes of identification, an impact on the environment.
Take that and apply it to our relationships. When we get together with friends, family, co-workers, strangers what kind of impression are we making? I am not talking about looking picture perfect, acting like we have it all together or saying all the “right” things. When a person walks away from you what do they leave with? In our house, we have a saying that when someone leaves we want them to be less alone, less hurt then when they came. Sometimes this is hard. Sometimes I just don’t feel like it, I am too busy, I am a mess myself, I don’t have much left over for others. Then I remember, people before projects. Give until it hurts, then give some more.
I also want to be identified by my footprint. I want the love that has been given to me by Jesus to be steadfast in whom I am. The marks I leave on people’s heart would come from Him and not me. I want my impact on this world to be more than recycling. I want to make a difference not to get gold stars, tax breaks, or a plaque but because of the sacrifice on the cross.I don’t want my footprints to be like a bull in a china shop crashing around breaking things. I don’t want to trample over people in the name of religion or beat someone with my beliefs. I want to live my life consistent with the One who gave me His. And I definitely think that it would be a travesty to be so focused inward that I never leave any footprints.
Are you leaving footprints on people’s heart? Are you stomping on them with boots? Are you not even leaving a trace of who you are?