I have 2 friends – Lisa & Meg.

They have never met, but they are wonderfully similar.

I met Lisa 11 years ago through Young Life. I first saw her as a cool adult who I wanted to think I was a cool 14 year old. She took us to Young Life camps, she dressed up in costumes, and chaperoned lock-ins for my friends. I MEAN, who wouldn’t want to be her friend? I remember being at Young Life club watching her have to sing on stage because no one else would… I can be honest and say she wasn’t good, but she did it because she loved us. Lisa allowed me to live life with her. She never kept her world separate from mine. She shared her past and every struggle and jumped into my present and sincerely cared about my teenage world problems. She loved me by simply choosing to spend time with me.

Fast forward to Sophomore year of college when I met Meg. Our fist time hanging out was at a Starbucks in Fayetteville. I remember sitting and talking about all of life even though we barely knew each other. Before I walked in that room, she had invited me in. I watched her go from girlfriend to fiancé to wife to mother. She prayed over me as I began and ended my first relationship, graduated from college and started my first job. She was the person who wrapped me in a towel after her husband baptized me.

What do these 2 women have in common? They chose to invite me in.

Some people may call them mentors, but I call them friends. I can say that because we do life together. They are not there to just teach, but they are willing to be taught. There are many things that I have learned about “friendship/mentorship” over the past decade, but the most important thing these women did was love in action. They invite me in, always. They tell me their deepest sins and how Jesus redeemed them. They work through their present struggles and are honest when they feel broken. They share their greatest joys of life and even just the normal days. Together, we are walking, running, carrying or skipping through life as we figure out how to love Jesus and others more.

Sophomore year after college, I worked at a Young Life camp. That summer changed me and the way I viewed God. I remember going on a run around the lake and having to stop on a dock because I was so overwhelmed of Christ’s love for me. I called Lisa and bawled while telling her about the new way I was seeing the Lord. She was the one who I knew would rejoice at this realization. A month later we were talking about it and she said words in her Lisa voice, “Hannah. I literally had no clue what you were saying. I could not understand one word. But I wanted to sit on the phone with you because I could tell you were so incredibly happy.”

Mentor/friendship is love in action.  Romans 12 tells us what it looks like.

Love must be sincere and devoted to one another in love. It honors one another above yourself. To show love, be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer. Practice hospitality. Rejoice when others rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate yourself with the highest to the lowest. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. {paraphrased & cut. verses include 9-10,12-13,15-17}

I love the scripture above because ALL of the verbs are action verbs. Friendship is an active process. As Proverbs 27:17 says, “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.” 

A very special man who embodied all of these qualities recently passed away. I have seen floods of posts being written about the impact he has made on peoples lives of all ages and I couldn’t help wonder if the same would be said about me one day. The life of Mr. Larry, Lisa, and Meg urge me to want to live a Love Does life without reservations. Being present over perfect. Choosing humility instead of pride. Serving without limits.  And maybe one day I would be so lucky enough to be a “Lisa” or “Meg” or “Larry” to all those around me.

“Love is never stationary…Simply put: love does.” – Bob Goff, Love Does

xx

Han

P.S. The biggest thank you to my Lisa and Meg for inviting me in 11 and 6 years ago. Words can never fully do it justice the impact you have had on me. I <3 you guys.