Notice

As a child and teenager that felt like no one noticed me, I sought attention in any form.  I lived for the shock factor.  I have some crazy stories of things I did for attention.  I was good at getting others to notice me, except the ones that I wanted attention from.  However, through all my shenanigans, there was one person who took notice, my Heavenly Father.

As an adult I realize how important it is to take notice of those around us, to see behind the exterior masks and look at what is really going on.  We are a society that takes notice of symptoms, but never wants to address the underlying issues that the symptoms are trying to get us to notice.There are so many instances I could talk about where people are crying out for help, wanting someone to take notice, but we walk on by.

I think of the teenagers that I have worked with that were cutters.  They were giving exterior signs for someone to take notice.  Crying out for help about something that was going on in the inner world that they didn’t know how to discuss.    People were so focused on the outward expression of the hurt that they didn’t want to discuss the underlying cause, the thing that when addressed could stop the behavior.

I think about the lonely elderly that I visit with in the hospital.  The ones that with deep sadness in their eyes, tell me they have no one.  That explain their children are too busy.  People are so busy they fail to notice the desire of someone for a human connection.

Yesterday at work I was watching a video during a training that really drove this home.  the video is old, but is applicable to most any situation, I wasn’t expecting a God lesson out of it though.  Mr. Ferrel said “You are the face of your company to every customer you come in contact with.”  What God spoke was “As a Christian, you are the face of Christ to every person you come in contact with.”

As I read this scripture, I knew that God was calling me to take notice. Every day I walk past people who He is calling me to take notice of.  If He notices them, and I am His face, I am called to notice them.  I don’t think that it is just me that God is calling, but all Christians.  He is calling every believer that is part of the body of Christ to take notice.  We all want someone to notice us, what if we all start taking time to notice each other.  What if we make a choice to move past the busyness and start to think about others as God does?  What if we start to take notice of those who are hurting around us, and start ministering to that need?  Will you take time to notice?

This post is part of the link up for the Five Minute Friday over at Kate Motaung’s Blog , where you write for Five Minutes on a specific word and the goal is to just write & no editing. (It is supposed to be a free write)