{"id":743,"date":"2017-06-14T19:58:13","date_gmt":"2017-06-15T00:58:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.karen-gustafson.com\/?p=743"},"modified":"2017-06-14T19:58:13","modified_gmt":"2017-06-15T00:58:13","slug":"the-gift-of-your-presence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.karen-gustafson.com\/?p=743","title":{"rendered":"The Gift of Your Presence"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of my daughters is working with kids on the outskirts of downtown Houston this summer.\u00a0She has been looking forward to this opportunity for months.\u00a0 She loves kids and loves Jesus so to combine the two is her sweet spot.\u00a0 As she was telling me about her adventurous first week, I was struck by something she said.\u00a0 Before she left, she was worried about knowing the right thing to say or d\"\"<\/a>o to show Jesus’ love to the kids she encountered.\u00a0 What she discovered was that they don’t need her words, they need her presence.<\/p>\n

They need her to show up.<\/em><\/p>\n

They need her to be fully present.<\/em><\/p>\n

They need her to engage.<\/em><\/p>\n

Isn’t that what we’re all hoping for?\u00a0 Someone to show up and be present. Someone who will stop what they’re doing, look you in\u00a0the eye, and listen. Someone who will take time to hear what’s on your heart and treasure it as a precious gift.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Your presence is what’s needed.<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

I was reminded of that as I went to a women’s coffee fellowship.\u00a0 Several women showed up, put their phones away, and talked for well over an hour relishing all the time they had while their kids were in the nursery.\u00a0 It was a wonderful sight to behold.<\/p>\n

The best part\u00a0was my interaction with\u00a0the woman who sat next to me.\u00a0 She came in a little late after a rough start to her morning.\u00a0 She could have just stayed home, but she chose to show up.<\/em>\u00a0 I’m so glad she did.<\/p>\n

After we made our introductions, she asked me questions about my family.\u00a0 And then she asked follow up questions.\u00a0 Questions that let me know she was listening and engaged.\u00a0\u00a0Then she\u00a0told me about her family and shared some things on her heart.\u00a0 \u00a0She didn’t have an agenda or a purpose.\u00a0 She didn’t use any special words.\u00a0 She was merely present\u00a0and trying to connect.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Our time together blessed me immensely.\u00a0 It revived my soul.<\/p>\n

She showed up.<\/p>\n

She engaged.<\/p>\n

Her presence\u00a0was a beautiful gift.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Your<\/em> presence is a gift, too.\u00a0 Go\u00a0share it!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of my daughters is working with kids on the outskirts of downtown Houston this summer.\u00a0She has been looking forward to this opportunity for months.\u00a0 She loves kids and loves Jesus so to combine the two is her sweet spot.\u00a0 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":749,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[37,36,39,38],"class_list":["post-743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-engage","tag-presence","tag-relationships","tag-show-up"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/www.karen-gustafson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/presence-is-a-gift.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.karen-gustafson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.karen-gustafson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.karen-gustafson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.karen-gustafson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.karen-gustafson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=743"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/www.karen-gustafson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":752,"href":"http:\/\/www.karen-gustafson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743\/revisions\/752"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.karen-gustafson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.karen-gustafson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.karen-gustafson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.karen-gustafson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}