God provides us with a new way of living… and a new way of loving.

During my fourth year on the field, I discipled some local young women as they learned to live out their faith. After a few weeks of walking with one of the women through a hard break-up, I realized I had been harsh. I had urged the broken-hearted woman to forgive. While the principles I was teaching about forgiveness were true, she was not ready to hear them. She first needed someone to see her in her grief, to grieve with her, and to comfort her. She balked at what I was teaching, I pushed back, and she fled. 

Realizing my mistake, I apologized and asked her for forgiveness. Knowing her beginner-level understanding of forgiveness–and that she now had two big things to forgive–made me wonder how much she was willing to engage. 

I prayed for weeks that God would heal her heart, that God would give me opportunities to show kindness and compassion to her, and that God would help her forgive. 

Weeks later, I was surprised with a gift. As I showered at a friend’s house to prepare for an international flight, I noticed the very low water pressure and cold water. “Wow, these guys are hardcore global workers to put up with showering like this day in and day out!” I had failed to realize the water had been cut. Sure enough, as soon as my hair was full of suds, there was not a trickle of water left. I was soapy, and I was stuck. My husband and daughter weren’t with me and my friends weren’t home. My friends’ two-year-old son and the woman I had been discipling were the only two people around. I was at her mercy.

“Florence. I think I need help.”  

Florence gladly came to my aid. I wrapped myself in towels and let this dear woman pour drinking water on my head to rinse out the soap, pitcher by pitcher. 

I was at her mercy. She loved lavishly. As the water and my tears rinsed out my hair, so her loving actions rinsed off my pent-up sorrow and shame. In this moment, Florence blessed me, loved me, and sent me on my way.