What It Looks Like to Care

Care. "The provision of what is necessary for the health, welfare, maintenance, and protection of someone or something" (Oxford Languages, n.d.). I used to think it was about me doing the work: physically, mentally, spiritually, and/or emotionally. Now I realize it is so much more.

Sometimes care looks like asking for help. I want to do the thing, but I can't. So I ask for help, and I accept the help offered.

Sometimes care looks like letting someone else do the task. Their way. Their care. I have to humble myself, especially when their care is better than what I could offer.

Sometimes care looks like making hard decisions, decisions other people might not like. Decisions of which others might not approve, but in my own heart, I determine are right before God, and before the ones in question.

And sometimes care looks like not making decisions. It looks like letting circumstances ride out their course. It looks like letting people face consequences for their decisions, sometimes very difficult ones. Sometimes it hurts a lot to care in this way.

Care. It's both a lot harder, and a lot fuller than I ever imagined. May God continue to teach me what the word means, even I learn to accept that in all this big, beautiful, and hard life, He is caring perfectly for me.

Reference:

Oxford Languages. (n.d.). Google's English Dictionary. https://www.google.com/search?q=care+definition