Learning Empathy

Empathy (noun): the ability to understand and share the feelings of others.

When I filled out my application form for the missions trip last year, I intentionally did not mark the "empathizing" box for the things I'm good at. I've never been very good at understanding others' feelings... often wanting to say, "Just get over it," when I think people are getting too emotional.

But God has been changing my heart. I cannot go into details (to protect the identity of the individual), but I was recently put into contact with a young woman who is dealing with a lot of grief and loss in her life. I believe God put us in each others' lives for a reason.

Although she may not know it, this young lady is teaching me about empathy and about looking beyond myself. She doesn't realize it, but she is very wise in her own way. I even found myself crying for her when I saw how sad she is. That's huge because I rarely even cry for myself.

I don't know if I'm helping her at all. I can only pray and hope that God is using me.